Punjab loan waiver to farmhands likely

Chandigarh, January 13

In an election mode, a crucial meeting of the Punjab Government on extending its flagship crop loan waiver scheme to 3.7 lakh farmhands in the state is to be held tomorrow.

  With the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union claiming that 85 per cent of farm labourers are under debt, the exercise to identify potential beneficiaries as per the laid down criteria has already begun. 

Officials say loans worth Rs 600 crore of up to Rs 50,000 taken by farm workers from agricultural societies are expected to be waived. A proforma, detailing the profile of the intended beneficiaries, has been circulated to the department concerned.

 The Congress had promised during the Assembly elections that its loan waiver scheme would cover landless farm labourers, SCs and Backward Classes. So far, the government has covered marginal farmers who had taken loans from cooperative and commercial banks. 

The process to cover small farmers is underway. As many as 2.15 lakh small farmers who had taken loan from cooperative banks will be covered in the third phase, while 50,752 small farmers who had taken loan from commercial banks will be covered in the next phase. — TNS