News Analysis India

Tag: Farm Debt Waiver

  • Farmers lay siege to toll plazas in Punjab over debt waiver

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  Farmers of Punjab on Thursday intensified their protest and assured commuters of toll-free travel at 18 plazas in 10 districts of the state against the AAP government for ignoring their demands. Tense situation prevailed at a few places after farmers and toll plaza employees entered into heated arguments.

    The influential Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) – which has presence in Majha and Doaba regions of the state besides some parts of Malwa region – had given a call to hold protests at 18 toll plazas for a month from December 15 to January 15. The reason: to press the state to accept their various demands, including a farm debt waiver, remunerative prices for crops and compensation for damage to crops.

    Toll-free travel will be ensured by the protesting farmers at Amritsar (Kathunagal, Mannawala and Chiddan near Attari), Tarn Taran (Usma and Mannan), Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Moga, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have been made toll free.

    KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “The government is pro-corporate and this is the reason why we have decided to make toll plazas free thus now any vehicle passing through the toll plazas will not pay any toll  till January 15.”

    Amarinder meets PM in Delhi, flags ‘poor’ law & order in PunjabFormer Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament House Complex in Delhi, and flagged the law-and-order situation in Punjab terming it quite grim. He added that he has seen the movement of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and does not want those to be repeated. Referring to growing clout of Amritpal Singh and his supporters and terming that it was a matter of grave concern, Amarinder, who joined the saffron party in September said, “The incident of arson outside a Gurdwara in Jalandhar by supporters of Amritpal Singh is worrisome. He is fashioning himself after Bhindranwale. The situation is quite grim.”

    CHANDIGARH:  Farmers of Punjab on Thursday intensified their protest and assured commuters of toll-free travel at 18 plazas in 10 districts of the state against the AAP government for ignoring their demands. Tense situation prevailed at a few places after farmers and toll plaza employees entered into heated arguments.

    The influential Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) – which has presence in Majha and Doaba regions of the state besides some parts of Malwa region – had given a call to hold protests at 18 toll plazas for a month from December 15 to January 15. The reason: to press the state to accept their various demands, including a farm debt waiver, remunerative prices for crops and compensation for damage to crops.

    Toll-free travel will be ensured by the protesting farmers at Amritsar (Kathunagal, Mannawala and Chiddan near Attari), Tarn Taran (Usma and Mannan), Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Moga, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have been made toll free.

    KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “The government is pro-corporate and this is the reason why we have decided to make toll plazas free thus now any vehicle passing through the toll plazas will not pay any toll  till January 15.”

    Amarinder meets PM in Delhi, flags ‘poor’ law & order in Punjab
    Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament House Complex in Delhi, and flagged the law-and-order situation in Punjab terming it quite grim. He added that he has seen the movement of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and does not want those to be repeated. Referring to growing clout of Amritpal Singh and his supporters and terming that it was a matter of grave concern, Amarinder, who joined the saffron party in September said, “The incident of arson outside a Gurdwara in Jalandhar by supporters of Amritpal Singh is worrisome. He is fashioning himself after Bhindranwale. The situation is quite grim.”

  • UP polls: Congress promises debt waiver, Rs 2,500 support price for wheat, paddy

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Congress on Wednesday released a white paper on agriculture and promised to increase the support price of wheat and paddy to Rs 2,500 a quintal besides a debt waiver for farmers if voted to power in the UP Assembly polls.

    Releasing the white paper here, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel slammed the BJP-led Union government for not giving the legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and alleged that an attempt is being made to crush farmers.

    If voted to power, the Congress will increase the support price of wheat and paddy to Rs 2,500 a quintal and remove debt burden on farmers, he said.

    The Congress will also implement a scheme to buy cow dung so that the cattle, which have been rendered useless, are not left to stray in the open, he said.

    He also accused the Centre of betraying farmers.

    Far from doubling the income of farmers as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the “anti-farmer policies” of the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state have led to an increase in the cost of farming, Baghel told reporters.

    “It is the misfortune of our ‘annadatas’ that despite agitating for 14 months, they have not been given the guarantee of the MSP. It is unfortunate that the government has failed to give due respect to the hard work of the ‘annadatas’,” he said referring to the stir against the Centre’s farm laws.

    Elaborating on problems faced by farmers like rising expense on agriculture, lack of proper remuneration for the produce and unavailability of fertilisers, Baghel said there is an attempt to crush farmers and the Lakhimpur incident, where farmers were mowed down under the vehicle of a minister’s son, is an example that this is going to be the fate of farmers.

    The Chhattisgarh CM said after facing defeat in bypolls in several states, the BJP government decreased prices of petrol and diesel and said this means that if people have to get rid of inflation and ensure that farmers get right price of their produce, this government will have to be removed.

    He flayed the government for imposing GST on tractors and agricultural machinery.

    Stressing that politics is being played over cow in Uttar Pradesh, he said people have stopped keeping the cattle and they are roaming in the open.

    “Farmers are saving their crops either by fencing or by staying awake the whole night. Cows are dying or have become weak in the cowsheds made for them but people running the cowsheds are getting fat,” he said.