Cong, AAP slam Punjab govt over farmers' suicides

Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today slammed the Punjab government over farmers' suicides in the state and accused the ruling SAD-BJP combine of "failure" in bailing out the beleaguered peasants.
"Because of the misrule and wrong policies of SAD-BJP government, farmers are in miserable condition. Unable to pay off their debt, farmers are committing suicides in the state especially in Malwa belt," Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi claimed.
"The way indebted farmers are ending their lives, urgent steps like raising their income, debt waiver, implementation of Swaminathan Commission report are required to be undertaken to bail out farmers from the agrarian crisis," he said.

AAP, which is aiming to wrest power in 2017 assembly polls in Punjab, described farmers' suicide as "very serious" issue and stressed on drafting short term and long term policies to save the state's agriculture sector.
"The state government should immediately stop making loan recovery from farmers," AAP MP Bhagwant Mann said.
"There is no will in SAD-BJP regime to save farmers and agriculture sector as they are just busy in filling their own pockets. They failed to take a single step to come to the aid of beleaguered farmers who are indebted," said Durgesh Pathak, national organisation-building head, AAP.

"We shall come out with a blueprint in next 2-3 months after consulting people of Punjab to deal with a host of issues including failing farming sector," said Pathak.

Meanwhile, Punjab Cabinet minister Daljeet Singh Cheema said the state government was already taking several steps for the welfare of farmers including giving free power to them worth Rs 6,000 crore per annum.
He said Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had even sought implementation of Swaminathan Commission report which had recommended 50 per cent profit over and above input cost.
Notably, a couple of days ago, a farmer and his elderly mother allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide at Jodhpur village near Barnala when a commission agent, with the help of police and revenue officials, was trying to take possession of his land.

Then another case of farmer suicide came to light in Ludhiana where a debt-ridden farmer at Galib in Jagroan also allegedly ended his life on April 27.
Significantly, Parliament was informed on April 26 that as many as 116 farmers had committed suicide due to agrarian reasons this year, with maximum cases reported in Maharashtra, followed by Punjab and Telangana.