Congress-led Punjab Government is bogged down over the issue of ‘kurki’ (attaching land of loan defaulters). Amidst reports that Punjab Agriculture Development Bank (PADB) has prepared a list of 12,625 farmers whose agriculture land it intends to sell to recover pending dues, the State Government is being criticized for not fulfilling its pre-poll promise of ending kurki system, besides waiving the entire farm loan.
Even as the Punjab Government had taken the decision to do away with kurki during its first Cabinet meeting, and later the Vidhan Sabha, during its first budget session, too passed the Bill to take away the powers from the cooperative societies to auction the farmers’ land to recover dues by repealing Section 67-A of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, the instances of ‘kurki’ notices to the farmers were reported every now and then.
Besides initiating kurki proceedings to recover pending dues estimated at Rs 229.80 crore, it has been learnt that the PADB authorities are also preparing to take 19,758 farmers to the court to recover Rs 342.12 crore.
Only recently, the Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar had urged the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to form a panel to identify influential defaulters and initiate kurki against them.
Various farmers’ organizations, and major political parties including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) take on the Congress government over the issue on Wednesday demanding to revoke the decision of going with the kurki.
Describing the development as “cruel and inhuman act”, SAD president Sukhbir Badal said that his party would not allowed the decision to be implemented at any cost.
“It is shocking that after defaulting on implementation of its Rs 90,000 crore loan waiver promise, the Congress government had now started the process of persecuting farmers by deciding to sell off agriculture land of 12,635 indebted farmers across six districts to recover their debt. Proceedings had also been launched against another 20,000 farmers,” he said.
He said that it was a matter of shame that PADB officials, who had initiated this exercise by arresting 28 farmers and procuring arrest warrants against 109 others, were applauding Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for leading the drive.
“Chief Minister is honour bound to tell Punjabis why he has allowed his Cooperation Minister to re-start kurki proceedings in Punjab after a gap of 30 years. Chief Minister had admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that kurki proceedings had been discontinued against farmers since 1986. Congress government also took a cabinet decision not to implement recovery proceedings against the peasantry,” he said.
However, the Cooperation Department is openly resorting to recovery proceedings against small farmers exposing the double faced nature of this deceitful government which has even violated the sanctity of its own cabinet, he said.
Stating that more than 500 farmers had already committed suicide, Sukhbir said that the latest action would lead to further despondency and increase the suicide rate in the State. “Small farmers with loans between Rs two lakh to Rs five lakh, who had been promised relief from all loans be it from nationalized or cooperative banks or private money lenders, would be most hit…These are also the same farmers who had been wooed with slogans of ‘karja kurki khatam fasal ki poori rakam’ by the Congress party prior to the assembly elections,” he added.
OPPOSE KURKI, HElP FARMERS: SAD TO ITS WORKERS, lEADERS
SAD president Sukhbir Badal had directed the party rank and file to vehemently oppose any attempt by the Congress government to sell off land of thousands of indebted farmers by initiating kurki proceedings against them.
Asking the party rank and file to protect the interests of indebted farmers, the SAD president said that the party men should rush to the rescue of any farmer subjected to recovery proceedings by the Congress government.
“The party would also stand by Dalits and khet mazdoor facing kurki proceedings because the Congress government had failed to come to their aid and waive off their debts,” he said, adding, “We will not allow the Congress government to go back on the promises made to the farming community.”
SETTING WEEK’s DEADlINE, AAP DEMANDS REVOKING DECISION
Strongly opposing the kurki proceedings by the PADB, the AAP on Wednesday set a week’s deadline for the Punjab Government to revoke its decision.
The party has warned the State Government that in case it did not withdraw its ‘raja shahi’ decision to betray already debt-bordered farmers of the state, “party’s kisan wing would gherao the PADB’s Patiala Division Office”.
AAP’s state unit co-president Dr Balbir Singh made it clear that the party would not allow kurki proceedings against any farmer, and the Government should implement its promise of complete debt waiver and abolishing kurki.
Dr Balbir said that the party’s farmer wing has convened a meeting on this serious issue on Thursday.