Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday launched the farm debt waiver scheme in Mansa as he accused Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party and few farmer unions of spreading false propaganda on the farm debt waiver promise.
He questioned the Akalis, AAP and some farmer unionson how they expected his government to give out more than it could afford to.
“The fiscal crisis facing the State was much graver than the Congress had envisaged before the elections,” he said, adding that despite the problems, his government had found ways of launching the debt waiver scheme, as promised in the Congress poll manifesto.
“My government has fulfilled major promise with this launch,” he said, as he symbolically handed over waiver certificates to 10 farmers from the five districts of Mansa, Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar and Moga.
He said a total of 5.63 lakh farmers will benefit in the first phase, which will provide relief to the tune of ₹2700 crores.
Acknowledging that some farmers could and might have got left out due to technical errors, Mr. Amarinder said these issues were being resolved and those who still ended up with complaints should approach their respective SDMs or DCs, whom he had personally directed to resolve any such issues at the earliest.
“No eligible farmer will be excluded from the waiver exercise,” he said, adding that he was personally keeping tabs on the disbursements.
