Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann set for Bhavnagar, Bharuch campaign tour for AAP on April 16-17
This move comes as the AAP and Congress navigate a recent seat-sharing agreement within the INDIA bloc.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday exhorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept his proposal for a complete waiver of farmers and farm labourers’ debt.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Channi said the Punjab government is ready to take over its share of the debt burden along with the Union government. He emphasised the need to frame a Centre-State shared scheme of an appropriate ratio spread over some time with proper modalities to handle this issue and end the debt of farmers and farm labourers once and for all.
“Despite the stressed revenues of the state government, no sacrifice would be big enough then the weight of this moral obligation that we owe to farmer fraternity,” the CM said.
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Urging the PM, Channi said, “We as stakeholders are ready to commit ourselves to any new arrangement that is decided mutually between all the stakeholders”.
Reminding Modi about the announcement of the annulment of the three farm laws by him, Channi said the farmers and government have moved a step closer to resolving some major pending issues which have taken centre stage along with the demand to repeal three farm laws. The foremost of course is the issue of agricultural debt.
The CM further said very recently the leadership of farmers had met him at Chandigarh with their demands and only one major issue that remained pending at his level sans a resolution was the issue of farm debt. A glittering ray of hope has however shone after Centre’s changed stance, he said.
The CM said farmers of Punjab are the ones who picked up the gauntlet of food security of the nation and became the bulwark of the green revolution. He said while ensuring food security, self-pride driven farmers have crippled themselves under the weight of mountains of debt.
“No banking or non-banking institution should knock the doors of our farmers or farm labour for recovery of agricultural loans which forms the root cause of suicides by the farmers and farm labour and stress in the rural economy,” the CM said.
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