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“More benefit for southern farmers from loan waiver”

PUDUCHERRY: Small and marginal farmers belonging to the southern States are going to be the main beneficiaries of the loan waiver announced in the Union Budget for 2008-2009, according to general secretary of the All India Congress Committee and Rajya Sabha Member V.Narayanasamy.

He told reporters here on Thursday that in Puducherry alone, almost 90 per cent of the small and marginal farmers had availed themselves of agricultural credit from the nationalised banks and cooperative institutions.

The Centre’s move to waive farm loan to the tune of Rs.60,000 crore would provide great relief to these farmers, he said.

Referring to the proposed farmers’ rally in New Delhi on March 9 to be addressed among others by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said similar rallies would be held subsequently in all the States and Union Territories including Puducherry at various levels to publicise the announcements made in the budget.

Apart from the debt relief measure for the farmers, other salient features of the budget such as increasing the income tax exemption limit to Rs.1.5 lakh and allocation of more funds for the public distribution system, health and education would also be highlighted during the rallies and street-corner meetings, he added.

Ms.Gandhi, who interacted with the Congress legislators for the last three days, had advised the MPs and MLAs to play an important role in ensuring that the concessions announced in the budget reached the genuine beneficiaries, he said.

Mr.Narayanasamy thanked the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Union Minister of State for Railway R.Velu for announcing various projects for the Union Territory. Since the proposal for the railway project to link Chennai with Cuddalore via Puducherry along the East Coast had been cleared by the Centre, MPs belonging to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry should strive to ensure that the works for laying the track commenced this year, he said.

He expressed the hope that the Puducherry government would pass a Bill in the coming budget session of the Assembly to invoke Goondas Act to curb the movement of anti-social elements in certain areas in the

On demands raised by some of the alliance partners of the Congress to form a coordination panel in the UT, he said there was a need for setting up of such a panel. He had already conveyed his views to the high command in this regard.

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss held discussions with him and Lok Sabha Member from Puducherry M.Ramadass on Wednesday, Mr.Narayanasamy said, adding that the Minister had come forward to earmark Rs.10 crore for the UT under the National Rural Health Mission.

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