Punjab CM Capt Amarinder announces debt waiver for farmhands
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 14
Fulfilling the second item on the 18-point agenda given by the Congress high command for immediate implementation, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today announced Rs 590 crore loan waiver for landless farmers and labourers.
The government will pay off loans worth Rs 590 crore of 2,85,325 members of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), ensuring a relief of Rs 20,000 per member, said the Chief Minister. He directed the finance and cooperation departments to initiate the process for effective implementation.
To cost Rs590 cr
- The government will repay loans worth Rs590 crore of 2,85,325 members of cooperative societies
- It was one of the main demands of Congress MLAs and party’s Dalit leaders
The farm loan waiver was one of the main demands of Congress MLAs and party’s Dalit leaders. The cheques would be distributed at a state-level function on August 20, said an official spokesperson after a high-level meeting held here. The government has formulated a debt relief scheme for farm labourers and landless farming members of the PACS, which will cover only consumption loans of the members advanced by the district central cooperative banks through the societies.
Earlier, under the CM’s flagship debt waiver scheme, loans worth Rs 4,624 crore of 5.64 lakh farmers were waived. The move was part of the party’s 2017 poll manifesto.
