Punjab farmers demand total loan waiver

A farmer sprays pesticides in a field at a village on the outskirts of Amritsar on February 5, 2018.

Hundreds of farmers belonging to seven unions in Punjab on Wednesday staged a State-wide protest blocking national and state highways demanding a complete loan waiver. Annoyed with the debt waiver scheme announced last month by the Congress government, the farmers accused the Chief Minister Capt. Amrinder Singh of going back on his poll promise of a complete loan waiver. The blockadelasted for about two hours.

“State farmers are committing suicide because of debt. What government has announced is only a partial waiver, which will not serve the purpose,” Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta, said.