The alliance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the lok Insaaf Party (lIP) — the main opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Governor VP Singh Badnore urging him to convene a three-day special Assembly session to discuss the serious issue of farmers’ suicide.
They also suggested a one-year moratorium on the recovery of agriculture loans and interest.
“A minimum three-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha be summoned to discuss threadbare the entire gamut of farm indebtedness and suicides, the reasons and solutions to this mounting challenge,” said AAP MlA and the leader of Opposition, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, in the memorandum.
He said the “colossal” agriculture indebtedness had acquired “dangerous” ramifications leading to an “increased” number of suicides by farmers and farm labour in Punjab.
“Needless to mention, the farm-related debt, both institutional and non-institutional, has crossed an alarming level of more than Rs 1 lakh crore,” he said. The Congress party, in its manifesto of 2017 elections, had promised a complete debt-waiver for all categories of farmers, who owe money to state cooperative banks, nationalized banks and the commission agents, he said.
“Unfortunately, the Congress government now has taken a complete U-turn and announced a meagre categorised and conditional debt-waiver,” he alleged.
AAP MlA from Bholath said that the “inadequate” debt- waiver had no effect. “In order to provide breathing space to the debt-ridden panicked farming and farm labour fraternity, a one-year moratorium be announced on recovery of all types of agriculture related loans and interest payments,” he demanded.
“The Karnataka Government in 2013 had announced a similar moratorium in view of a severe drought that hit the state, leading to a large number of suicides,” said Khaira.
Khaira said: “We suggest that Punjab be divided into different agricultural zones depending upon the nature of soil and water availability. Each zone should have a different crop cycle with an assured market or purchase of their produce.”
He suggested that the government should explore the markets of Middle-East and Central Asia, which are currently procuring their food grains and eatables from far off countries like Africa or latin America.
“We also suggest that Amritsar be declared a dry port from where we can easily reach the markets of Middle-East and Central Asia in a couple of hours. Of course, the best thing for Punjab would be a complete free agriculture trade with Pakistan, which seems a bit unlikely given the strained Indo-Pak relations,” read the memorandum.
“We also believe that the rate of interest being charged to the agriculture sector is exuberantly high which is further adding to the debt factor, as the return from agriculture income is very meagre. Therefore, we suggest the high rates of interest being charged be slashed at least by the state owned cooperative banks,” he said.
One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme be offered to the agriculture sector or farmers, so that all those willing to settle these loans can avail this facility, he said.