Congress slams Parkash Singh Badal over farmers’ loans

Asserting that the Congress government will waive off farmers’ loans, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday lashed out at chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for saying that no government can waive farmers’ loans.

“Just because you are too incompetent to provide any relief to the farmers does not mean no one else can do that,” Capt. Singh said in reaction to Mr Badal’s statement. Mr Badal had said earlier on Sunday that the Congress was misleading farmers by promising them a loan waiver.

With state pushed into debt of over Rs 1.25 lakh crores, nobody expected Mr Badal to waive off loans, Capt. Singh said. “A government which cannot pay salaries and pensions will not be expected to waive off the loans as it needs financial skills which Mr Badal has exhausted for amassing personal wealth,” he said, while promising that, with better financial management, the state can afford a complete loan waiver for farmers.

He said that during his previous term, between 2002 and 2007, he had settled all the loans of farmers taken from cooperative banks. He said his government had started negotiations with PSU banks also, but they could not be completed as the Akalis took over in 2007.

“You owe an explanation to the farmers as to why you did not carry forward our policy and settle the issue with the PSU banks,” he said.

Capt. Singh said it was surprising that someone who had become the chief minister for the fifth time was saying that the governments cannot give farmers a loan waiver. “You need the will and the resources, and unfortunately you possess none of those,” he said, while adding that Mr Badal had never been sincere with anyone, including the farmers, and while others try to help them out, he was trying to create confusion and misunderstanding.

Capt. Singh reminded Mr Badal that the NDA government at the Centre, of which Mr Badal’s party is a part, wrote off bad debts of corporate houses to the tune of Rs 114 lakh crores. “If you can waive off such a huge amount, why can’t you waive off farmers’ loans which amount to less than Rs 1 lakh crores,” he asked, while adding, “If industry can be provided the stimulus, so can the agriculture sector and farmers, and we will do that.”