Expressing deep anguish over the burgeoning incidents of suicides committed by the state’s over-stressed farmers, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday slammed the subsequent sleepy governments for their deadly slumber over the deaths thus aggravating the problem.
Not a day passes when hundreds of reports on the deaths by suicides are not reported from across country, said the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema.
“The preceding BJP-SAD government and the ruling Capt Amarinder Singh government are solely responsible for forcing the beleaguered farmers, already over-stressed due to heavy farm loans on their heads, to commit suicides,” he said. Blaming the Capt Amarinder government for backtracking on the promise of a complete loan waiver to bail out the farmers from the heavy debt liabilities, Cheema cited reports to claim that during Congress’ two-year regime, as many as 77 farmers and farm labourers had committed suicides in Bathinda district only.
Cheema said that the only way forward was to implement Swaminathan Commission recommendations, taking a cue from the Arvind Kajriwal-led Government in Delhi which had already implemented the recommendations to address the farm distress.