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Badal to seek PM's help on tackling farmers'suicides

Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government would send a comprehensive proposal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for immediate and effective Central intervention in dealing with the crisis of debt-related suicides by poor farmers.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal constituted a core group on Thursday comprising the Financial Commissioners in charge of Revenue, Development and Cooperation to prepare the State's case to be presented before the "Working Group on Rural Indebtedness" in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), set up to form national policy on the subject on the basis of the representations received by it.

According to an official release here, the Chief Minister's decision comes in the wake of a memorandum submitted by Bharti Kisan Union (BKU). Mr. Badal said the problem of rural indebtedness was a matter of great concern as incidence of suicides by beleaguered farmers had shown an alarming rise over the past five years.

Mr. Badal said he would pursue the case with the Prime Minister as well as the Union Agriculture and Finance Ministers for an early clearance of a package on rural indebtedness for Punjab. He wanted the Centre to facilitate a "One Time Settlement" (OTS) scheme to solve the problem of rural indebtedness under which the ultimate recovery amount should not exceed twice the principle amount.

The Chief Minister regretted that even as the Union Government was giving finishing touches to its policy on tackling rural indebtedness, Punjab was yet to complete the basic exercise of gathering data on the subject. "Punjab cannot afford to lose any more time because the national policy for rural indebtedness is on the anvil and the State must present its case to be included within its ambit," he said. The Chief Minister also briefly reviewed the progress of the ongoing procurement of wheat and directed the Principal Secretary for Food and Supplies to ensure that farmers receive their dues within 48 hours.

In a bid to safeguard the interest of the sugar industry in the cooperative sector, Mr. Badal asked the Financial Commissioners for Cooperation and Development to convene separate meetings to discuss the modalities to enhance the crushing capacity of these mills to make them more viable.

Mr. Badal directed the Chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Board to clear the backlog of tube-well connections, especially for small and marginal farmers, on a priority basis. Board Chairman Y.S. Ratra informed the meeting that 155,000 out of a total of 270,000 connections would be released to eligible farmers in a phased manner.

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