Punjab govt to seek inputs from farmers

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the state government would seek vital inputs from the representatives of the farmers and farm labour associations before finalising the legislation on 'Debt Determination and Settlement' in the budget session of Vidhan Sabha.
Presiding over a high level meeting with representatives of 12 farmers and farm labour unions here the Chief Minister said a high level committee comprising Food and Civil Supplies Minister, with Revenue, Agriculture and Industries Minister as its members held several rounds of discussions with bankers and money lenders.
The committee would now consult farmers to address the issue of indebtness in totality, he said.

Badal hoped that this legislation would prove to be milestone in mitigating the sufferings of beleaguered peasantry thereby providing much needed relief to them by regulating the system of private money lending.
Badal said he had already personally taken up the issue of procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Public Stock holding of food grains for food security of the nation with the Centre to safeguard the interests of small and resource poor farmers of the country especially in Punjab.
The Chief Minister asked the Financial Commissioner Cooperation to evolve a mechanism for smooth and hassle free debt recovery of loans advanced to the farmers from Cooperative Banks in consultation with representatives of farm associations.

He urged the delegation to prevail upon the farmers to return their loans in time so that the cooperative banks could be made financially self sustainable to provide better services to the peasantry and there was no need to use any coercive method.
The Chief Minister apprised the delegation that the state government had already made the payment on account of previous sugarcane arrears of the farmers and the compensation worth Rs 668 crore to the cotton growers in Malwa belt.
On the issue of disbursement of compensation to the cotton labour in the cotton belt affected by white fly attack, Badal informed that Revenue Department had already sanctioned and released Rs 66.80 crore for this purpose to the concerned Deputy Commissioners.