CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday questioned the
Punjab government as to why no policy was being framed to completely waive off loans of farm labourers and Dalits.
Former minister and SAD leader
Bikram Singh Majithia said the government seemed to be taking farm labourers and Dalits casually. "Even after ten months in power it has failed to come out with a policy to waive off their loans. Even chief minister
Amarinder Singh has given an empty assurance without any road map for waiving off the loans of farm labourers, refusing to waive off loans of the Dalit community".
He said Punjab had the highest concentration of Dalit population in the country which was around 30% of its population and a loan waiver should also be implemented for this oppressed section of the society.
Majithia gave a call to the people of Punjab to gherao all Dalit legislators of the
Congress party, including the scheduled caste and backward class minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot. "These legislators need to tell the Dalit and backward community as to why they have failed to persuade the government to implement a loan waiver for them.
Sadhu Singh Dharamsot also needs to resign immediately. Not only has he failed the Dalit community on this issue, he has failed to even ensure they get social welfare benefits they were getting during the SAD-BJP rule", he added.
From a promised loan waiver of Rs 90,000 crore covering loans taken from cooperative and nationalized banks as well as private money lenders, the government has given a loan waiver of Rs 167 crore only and has tried to befool the farming community that it has fulfilled its promise, said the Akali leader.
Bikram Singh Majithia 
