Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday asked the people not to pay “exorbitant” electricity bills and promised waiver of farmers’ debt if the party forms Government in the State after next year’s elections.
Capt Amarinder, addressing a ‘Kisan Chetna’ dharna organised under the leadership of party’s former State president and the chairman of the PPCC committee on farmer issues Partap Singh Bajwa, said that if the party is voted to power, he will ensure that the farmers’ loans are waived off and their land is not taken away.
PPCC president said that it was a tragedy that the same farmers of Punjab, who once fed the entire nation, were now either dying themselves for food or were killing themselves in despair for inability to repay their loans.
“We owe it to you as you have done your due and now it is our responsibility to bail you out,” he told the farmers.
Referring to the complaint about “exorbitant” electricity bills slapped on the poor consumers by the Punjab State Power Corporation limited, he asked them not to pay these bills and promised to settle these if Congress forms the Government.
He said that electricity was the most expensive in Punjab and the PSPCl was resorting to loot of poor consumers.
lashing out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Capt Amarinder alleged that they had ruined the farming community, forcing them to resort to suicide.
He also attacked Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, alleging that he had forced the synthetic drugs on youth thus destroying an entire generation.
Responding to the announcement made by AICC secretary in-charge for Punjab Asha Kumari that all such people will be jailed, the PPCC president said, “not only shall I put them behind the bars, I will set them right as well by hanging them upside down”.
Among other poll promises, the former Chief Minister said that not only will he cancel all the false FIRs against the Congress workers “on the first day of taking over the Government”, he will also ensure that all those people responsible, whether the Akali jathedars or the police officials, will also be put behind the bars.
“I will avenge each and every Congress worker s persecution,” he asserted.
Asha Kumari exhorted upon the party workers to ensure that the Congress formed the Government in the State. “The ten years of Akalis and the BJP has devastated Punjab,” she said.
Congress Campaign Committee chairperson Ambika Soni lashed out at the Badals for ignoring Punjab and keeping everything within the family. “On one hand, there is a leader like Capt Amarinder who risked his chief ministership to save Punjab’s waters and on the other hand, there are Badals who are bothered about themselves only,” he said.
Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal reminded people how the Congress government led by Dr Manmohan Singh provided everything to Punjab as demanded by Badal, while on the other hand, BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not even prepared to meet him. She urged people to strengthen the party under the leadership of Capt Amarinder.
CONGRESS TO lAUNCH STRUGGlE FOR ONE TIME FARMERS lOAN WAIVER IN PUNJAB: BAJWA
Punjab Congress will launch immediate struggle demanding one-time loan waiver for the beleaguered farmers. Besides, the party announced that it would ensure 12 hours of power daily for the farmers while continuing the free power facility.
The party, during a State-level farmers’ rally at Gurdaspur on Friday, spelled out its agenda for the farming community of the State whose implementation would be given top priority after coming into power in 2017 Assembly elections.
Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, who has been appointed patron of party’s farmers’ front named ‘Kisaan Chetna lehar’, said that the main slogan would be ‘Kisaanan Naal Insaaf Karo, Saara Karza Maaf Karo’.
“The total loan on the farmers in Punjab was about `57,000 crore. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government had given relief amounting to `1.14 lakh crore during the last six months to big industrial houses including Ambanis and Adanis,” said Bajwa.
“Comparatively, the loan on the farmers who feed the nation has been much less. It is peanuts if compared to bad loans of the banks amounting to more that `5 lakh crore that are labeled non-performing assets which the banks don’t recover,” he said while citing the example of `72,000 crore given to farmers by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Bajwa promised that the Congress, after coming into power, would enact legislation in the very first session of the Assembly thereby ensuring that the land of the farmers who had defaulted on repayment of loan would not be auctioned.
The State Government would also provide full-interest subsidy to farmers who don’t default on repayment of cooperative loans after one time waiver.
Bajwa said that the Congress Government would ensure implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report on fixing minimum support price of farm produce by ensuring 50 per cent profit over and above the cost of production. “This was the promise of the BJP and the Akali Dal in the lok Sabha election from which the Modi Government has backtracked,” he said.
He said that these were minimum steps that were needed to provide relief to the farmers who had provided food security to the country when total dependence was on imports.
Insurance would be introduced for crops on the basis of farmers’ holding as against the present arrangement of village as a unit, he said.