Putting to rest controversies flowing out of installation of metres on tube-wells and other agriculture-related issues, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday used the podium for doling out debt waiver certificates to assure the state’s farmers of continuing free power, bringing in new agriculture policy to waive all debt, besides another policy to revive state’s groundwater.
In the second phase of debt waiver, a total of Rs 162.16 crore of 29,192 farmers have been waived off from five districts of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Fazilka and Ferozepur, with the Chief Minister assuring the farming community of total implementation of his pre-poll promise of farm debt waiver.
Capt Amarinder announced that in the third stage of the programme, another 50,000 farmers will get their debt waiver certificates in Majha area.
He further assured that the debt waiver promise would be implemented in toto, with loans from other banks to be addressed after the completion of the current phase which covers cooperative bank loans of the small and marginal farmers.
Contrary to opposition’s rhetoric, especially the Shiromani Akali Dal, Capt Amarinder made it clear that free power for the farmers will continue despite installing metres on their tube wells.
Capt Amarinder, addressing the farming community at a programme to issue debt waiver certificates, also announced that the state government would bring in a new agriculture policy to waive all farmers' debts in the state, coupled with another policy to revive state’s depleting groundwater.
Describing the distribution of certificate as part of fulfilment of Congress’ election promise made to the farmers, Capt Amarinder assured the farmers that the slight delay in the matter was not the result of funds paucity but that of the procedure for identification and verification of the eligible farmers, along with their loan amount.
At the same time, he made it clear that 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.
“The number of suicides had come down since the Congress took over,” claimed the Chief Minister, adding that there had been marked improvement in the situation, of which his government will give details in the forthcoming budget session of the Vidhan Sabha.
Assailing the Akalis for spreading “brazen lies” and indulging in “blatantly false propaganda” against the government on the issue of tubewell meters, Capt Amarinder ruled out any proposal to withdraw free power for farmers.
“The government has only provided meters to 900 of the 13.5 lakh tubewells 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 said.
He further pointed out that if a farmer is given Rs 10,000 against his tubewell power consumption and ends up spending Rs 7,000, not only remaining Rs 3,000 will go into his pocket but he will also contribute to saving the declining groundwater level in the state.
Lashing out at the Akalis for “trying to create misconceptions in the mind of the people by making false allegations against the Congress over the issue”, Capt Amarinder said that there was no question of anyone making money from these meters.
“It is the responsibility of our generation to save water for future generations,” he said warning that Punjab could end up as a desert unless immediate corrective measures are taken to check the decline in water levels. He cited the example of Patiala where the water level had receded from 70 feet to 700 feet in last 30 years.
Urging the people not to get misled by the Akalis, who were hand-in-glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and were only interested in filling their pockets at the cost of Punjab’s economy, Capt Amarinder said that the nexus between the two parties was evident from the fact that Akali leadership had started plying buses in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh ever since the BJP took over in that state.
The Chief Minister also took on Harsimrat Kaur Badal for her total failure to protect Punjab’s and the farmers’ interests at the Centre, of which she is a part.
“She did not raise her voice even though the BJP government at the Centre failed to take any steps in the budget for the farming community,” said Capt Amarinder, pointing out that the NDA government had failed to implement the Swaminathan Report, which was the only way to help the farmers boost their income and bring the agriculture sector out of the doldrums into which it had been plunged.
Capt Amarinder warned the Akalis and the BJP that his government would not allow them to destroy Punjab any further.
Describing Capt Amarinder as the “second Chhotu Ram”, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal lauded him for ensuring smooth procurement and initiating the process of implementation of all the election promises, which was not an easy task, given the fiscal situation in the state.
The Akalis did nothing for Punjab in 10 years and are now pointing fingers at the Congress government, he added.
The state Forests and Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot also hit out at the Akalis for looting Punjab and destroying its agriculture and industry to build their own empire.
Punjab Congress president and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar challenged the SAD to break ties with BJP for failing to give any package to Punjab, just as TDP had done.