Tribune News Service

Anandpur Sahib, August 20

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today launched a Rs 520-crore loan waiver programme for 2.85 lakh landless farmers.

While the CM personally handed over cheques to 21 beneficiaries, ministers and MLAs will disburse the cheques to all others over the next few days. The CM dedicated the programme to his late friend and former PM Rajiv Gandhi on his birthday.

6K get Rs3.97-cr relief in F’garh Sahib

• Nearly 6,000 landless farmers and farm labourers of Fatehgarh Sahib have been given Rs3.97 crore loan relief, said Amloh MLA Kaka Randeep Singh Nabha
• He distributed debt relief certificates and cheques to 16 beneficiaries from Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathana and Amloh Assembly constituencies at a function on Friday

He said it was decided to waive loans amounting to Rs 520 crore of farm labour and landless farmers with respect to the principal amount against their cooperative loans as on July 31, 2017, and annual 7 per cent interest on the above amount till March 6, 2019. “A total of Rs 4,700 crore worth loans (up to Rs 2 lakh of crop loan each) for 5.85 lakh small and marginal famers have already been waived,” he said.

Asserting to continue his support to farmers protesting the three controversial farm laws, he claimed that he was asked by the Centre to stop farmers from moving towards Delhi and he refused because it was everybody’s right to stage peaceful protest against “injustice”. “Farmers in state, majority of whom have land holdings of up to a mere 2.5 acres, are struggling to save their future generations and the Centre must consider their demand to repeal the new agricultural laws,” he said.