BATHINDA: Controversies around farm loan waiver in the state refuse to die. Now, several marginal farmers have accused the revenue department officials of preparing beneficiaries' lists using more than six-year-old revenue record. Many marginal farmers, who have witnessed fragmentation of landholdings in the meanwhile, are struggling to get their names added to the lists.
According to calculations by some farmer organizations, as of now over 1,000 marginal farmers have been left out of the loan waiver scheme in Bathinda and Mansa districts and the numbers are likely to go up.
As per the plan envisaged by the
Punjab government, only marginal farmers (up to 2.5 acres landholding) having loans up to Rs 2 lakh were being given waiver. Loans of only cooperative banks would be written off in the first phase to be being started from Mansa on January 7. The waiver of small farmers (up to 5 acres landholding) and those having loans advances from nationalized banks will be taken up in the next phase.
Sources said nearly 46,000 marginal farmers from Bathinda, Mansa, Moga, Faridkot and Muktsar districts would be provided waiver certificates on January 7 in Mansa and the amount to be written off is Rs 170 crore. In all, nearly 6 lakh farmers belonging to 3,500 agriculture cooperative societies are eligible for the farm loan waiver and the amount involved is Rs 2,700 crore.
Meanwhile, farmers held protest in Mansa on Wednesday in support of the marginal farmers left out of the loan waiver lists.
Farmer Sukhdev Singh from Bhainibagha village in Mansa said, "I have two acres of land and I owe Rs 77,000 to the Mansa district cooperative bank but my name is missing from the list of beneficiaries."
Similarly, Mohinder Singh of Sivian village in Bathinda said he had 1.5 acres of land and he owed to a cooperative bank but his name was also not in the list prepared for those who would get benefit of the debt waiver.
Farmer outfit Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri said the state government was testing the patience of farmers. "
Congress had promised full loan waiver before the assembly elections, and nearly 10 months after coming to power it is claiming a waiver of Rs 2 lakh. In reality, it is waiving loans of only cooperative banks, which may be nearly one third of the total debt of farmers in Punjab. The waiver is also being given only to the marginal farmers. Here too, many deserving farmers are being left out. It is like a cruel joke being played on farmers."
BKU (Dakaunda) president Buta Singh said, "We will not tolerate this and will protest against it. We want complete waiver as was initially promised."
An official of the state cooperative societies department said the deserving farmers left out in first phase would be considered in the next stage as the debt waiver was an ongoing process.
Bathinda deputy commissioner Diprava Lakra said all lists were being verified by the revenue officials, and if some deserving beneficiaries were left out they would be considered for the loan waiver.
Chief principal secretary to the chief minister
Suresh Kumar and principal secretary to the CM
Tejbir Singh on Wednesday visited Mansa to take stock of the preparations for the function where debt waiver certificates would be distributed to the farmers.
Both officers instructed the district authorities not to leave any deserving farmer out of the loan waiver list. Mansa DC Dharampal Gupta said both officials made it clear that no deserving farmer should be left out. "They also got feedback about the place in the grain market where the function is to be organized and instructed to provide essential facilities for farmers," he said.
Farmers look up their names in the list of waiver beneficiaries.
