Punjab’s principal opposition party — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — is gearing up to take on the Congress Government during the budget session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, starting March 1, on numerous issues with farm loan waiver, farmers’ suicides, SC post-matric scholarship, leading the list.
AAP MLA from Dirba and the Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, expressing grave concern over the tragic suicides of debt-ridden farmers in Punjab, said that the people were fed up with the Congress Government’s policies.
Cheema, who visited the residence of the farmer father-son who committed suicide in Dasuya five days ago to express his condolences to the bereaved family members, said that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s false promises are leading to the deaths in the State which does not seem to affect him.
“Capt Amarinder has promised in his manifesto that he would waive off all the farm loans and relieve them of their debt. But four years have passed, not a single rupee has been waived off. Waiting for this relief, farmers are now committing suicide in despair,” said Cheema, adding that the deceased father-son, in their suicide note, had blamed Capt Amarinder and his false promises of loan waiver as the reason for the extreme step.
Cheema said that the incident of Dasuya was not a singular incident of this sort as two days ago, a farmer in Tarn Taran committed suicide because of indebtedness, just a year prior his son had committed suicide because of the same reason.
Highlighting figures related to the farmers’ deaths, Cheema said that between June 24 and September 1 last year, more than 65 farmers had committed suicide because of indebtedness.
“The state of farmers in Punjab is grave but this does not seem to affect Capt Amarinder,” he said adding that the pro-farmer stance being taken by the Captain government was nothing but a facade.
“In the upcoming budget session, AAP would be the voice of these grieving farmers. AAP would raise the issue of farmers’ suicides and loan waiver in the budget session and would fight for the rights of the farmers,” said Cheema.
He said: “We will not let Capt Amarinder just sit by and ruin the State and lives of the people, we will rise up and fight.”
Meanwhile, AAP MLA from Jagraon and Deputy Leader of Opposition Sarvjeet Kaur Manuke lashed out at the Capt Amarinder Government on the matter pertaining to release of the scholarship money to the Dalit students due to which they were facing problems.
“The issue of post-matric scholarship haS been haunting the students of Punjab for over a year now. More than 50,000 Dalit students are suffering as they have not been given their degrees because of non-disbursal of funds. Moreover, the survival of over 1,600 colleges is at stake because these funds have still not been released. They are on their verge of closure,” she said.
AAP would take up the issue of post-matric scholarship aggressively in the upcoming budget session and would force Capt Amarinder Singh to take swift action against the injustice meted out by him, declared Manuke.