Congress demands loan waiver for state farmers

Tribune News Service 

Dehradun, June 22

State Congress president Pritam Singh has sought waiving of farmers’ loans in the state and urged the BJP government to follow Punjab that recently waived farmers’ loans.

In a letter written to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Singh said the role of farmers in providing food grains to the people kept paramount importance and thus the issues affecting the farmers must be addressed on priority.

He said today the farmers were the most neglected lot. “The farmers today do not get adequate support price for their produce. Seeds are not made available to them on time thus delaying the sowing and same is the case with fertilisers. Further, the irrigation facilities for farmers have also dwindled considerably causing big pressure on farmers,” Singh pointed out.

He said the farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their produce. On an average 35 farmers are committing suicide daily and the Centre is least concerned about the matter, he alleged.  Referring to recent Berinag farmer suicide in Uttarakhand,  Singh said the Berinag farmer Surendra Singh was under debt and this forced to him to take the extreme step. 

Besides seeking a loan waiver for farmers, Singh also sought electricity to farmers on 50 per cent subsidy. He also sought interest-free loan for farmers for agriculture purposes. Better support price for its crops and Rs 1 crore ex-gratia for family of deceased farmer Surendra Singh were other demands raised by Pritam Singh in his letter to the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.