On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stated that the state’s Congress-led administration will forgive up to $2 lakh in loans for the remaining 1.09 lakh small and marginal farmers. This step, which would cost the state 1,200 crore, will be implemented within 10 days, according to Punjab’s chief minister.
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“The Punjab government has agreed to erase debt up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers with land up to 5 acres,” Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told reporters Representatives from as many as 32 farmer organisations from throughout the state met with the chief minister on Thursday to express their concerns to the administration.
Farm debt forgiveness, the cancellation of first information reports (FIRs) filed against farmers during the anti-farm legislation protests, and compensation for land taken for highway construction were among the items on the list. Channi proposed to discharge the outstanding $1,200 crore to clear loans up to $2,000 under the existing debt waiver plan during the meeting.
The Punjab chapter of the Congress party also made the news via its official Twitter account. In response to another key demand of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), Channi declared that by December 31, all FIRs filed by Punjab police against farmers demonstrating against the state’s now-repeated agriculture regulations will be annulled.
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He ordered the director-general of police (DGP) to complete the necessary paperwork as soon as possible so that all of the FIRs lodged against individual farmers might be cancelled. According to Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta Ugrahan Punjab president Joginder Singh, the next meeting between the state administration and the protesting farmers would take place on December 29. Farmer unions affiliated with the SKM have organised rallies across Punjab for the last four days, seeking a total remission of farm loans and compensation for the relatives of those killed in the anti-farm legislation uprising. They barricaded railway rails in Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Hoshiarpur from Monday to Wednesday, disrupting the transit of up to 400 trains.
