Over 73,000 farmers from six districts were given debt relief certificates worth ₹.485.69 crore at a function in Rampura, Sangrur district, on Thursday. The relief was provided under the farm debt waiver scheme of the Punjab government.
SAD flayed
Handing over certificates to 14 farmers as a token gesture, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal used the occasion to hit out at the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal, accusing its leadership of trying to “tarnish the image” of the Congress government through false propaganda.
“They (SAD) failed to do anything for the farmers during their 10-year rule and now they are indulging in propagating false information among people about the Congress,” he said.
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar accused the Akalis of “destroying” the State to promote their vested interests.
“The hue and cry over the debt waiver scheme was being made only by influential defaulters, most of whom belonged to the SAD,” he claimed, urging Chief Minister Amarinder Singh not to consider their case and initiate action against them for wilful default.
Farmers from Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, SAS Nagar and Rupnagar districts were the beneficiaries in the current phase of the implementation of the farm debt waiver scheme.
