Wants Centre to help debt-ridden farmers

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, March 17

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday declared that his government would not allow “kurki” of the land of beleaguered farmers, who had been trapped in the vicious debt cycle.

At a conclave to mark the third anniversary of his government, the Chief Minister dismissed the Centre’s promise of doubling farmers’ income as mere hogwash in the absence of any concrete steps. “Does the Union Finance Minister even know what agriculture is all about?,” he questioned, demanding that she should explain what the Centre planned to do to boost farm income, after first ensuring that every grain was lifted in Punjab and not allowed to rot in godowns. Capt Amarinder described banks as the root of the evil, having lent more money than was permissible by mortgaging land and properties of farmers, who also started using this money for non-productive reasons.