Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ruled out any move to withdraw free power for agriculture.

Addressing the farming community at a programme to issue debt waiver certificates at Nakodar, the CM said the Shiromani Akali Dal is spreading brazen lies and indulging in blatantly false propaganda against his government on the issue of tubewell meters.

Ruling out any proposal to withdraw free power for farmers, Amarinder said his government had only provided meters to 900 of the 13.5 lakh tube wells in the state as part of a research project aimed at saving groundwater while ensuring that the farmers also get an incentive in the form of cash savings for their personal use.

He further explained this by pointing out that if a farmer is given Rs 10,000 against his tubewell power consumption and ends up spending Rs 7000 then not only will the remaining Rs 3000 go into his pocket but he will also contribute to saving the declining groundwater level in the state.

The Akalis were trying to create misconceptions in the mind of the people by making false allegations against the Congress over the issue, said Amarinder, asserting that there was no question of anyone making money from these meters.

The CM said he was totally committed to implementing the promise of debt waiver, which he had made ahead of the Assembly elections after hearing of farmer suicides in every place he visited.

He distributed debt waiver certificates amounting to Rs. 162.16 Crore to 29,192 farmers at the Dana Mandi in the second stage of waiver of loans for the state’s 10.25 lakh small and marginal farmers. Eligible farmers from the five districts of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Fazilka and Ferozepur got their loan waiver certificates.

In the third stage, another 50,000 farmers will get their debt waiver certificates in the Majha area, said the CM, making it clear that the process was unstoppable.

The CM said a number of suicides had come down since the Congress took over and there had been marked improvement in the situation, of which his government will give details in the forthcoming budget session of the Assembly.