Fails to implement its own farmer’s policy, Punjab seeks modification in Center’s scheme
Fails to implement its own farmer’s policy, Punjab seeks modification in Center’s scheme
Chandigarh, June 5 ( HS) :
Even as he sought modification in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider agriculture loan waiver at national level on priority, as a one-time solution to help the distressed farmers.
Interestingly, refusing to implement earlier the PMFBY, the Punjab Government had got prepared its own farmer’s policy to give the cover of insurance to crops, but the report has been awaiting the attention of the CM for a year so far.
In two separate letters, underlining the need to safeguard the interests of Punjab’s farmers, the Chief Minister has stressed that a one-time agriculture debt waiver for farmers at the national level was essential, while calling for PMFBY modifications to make the pro-farmer initiative more effective in transforming the rural economy.
The relief given by the Punjab government from its limited resources was not adequate and needed to be supplemented by the Government of India, he said in his letter seeking the loan waiver on a national level.
The Government of India should bite the bullet once and for all, he said, adding that it was widely acknowledged that most of these ‘Anndattas’ of the country were facing severe debt stress, as a result of which some of them had even taken the extreme step of ending their lives by committing suicides. He emphasized the need to rectify the situation, not with slow and small measures but with carefully thought-out steps to mitigate their distress and improve their living conditions.
Captain Amarinder apprised Modi that the state government alone provided a debt relief of Rs. 2 lakh to all the marginal farmers who had availed institutional loan and the small farmers with loans up to Rs.2 lakh. As many as 5.52 lakh farmers have been provided a debt relief of Rs. 4468 crore so far, and the remaining would be provided the entitled relief under the scheme in the near future.
Meanwhile, in another letter, the Chief Minister has urged Modi to advise the Union Ministry of Agriculture to effect suitable modifications in PMFBY.
Captain Amarinder said in his letter that though this scheme was considered a step forward and better than the previous ones, there were several lacunae, which had resulted in its non-acceptance by Punjab’s farmers and its non-implementation in the state.
Notable, on the direction of the Punjab Government, the Punjab State Farmers’ and workers’ commission was constituted. The Commission had prepared its report and sought objections from the people, a year ago. But what happened with the report, it is still suspense.
