Sukhbir demands farm debt waiver to stop suicides

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded immediate waiver of all farmers' loans to "stem the wave of suicides" in the state.
Asserting that the SAD would not rest till the Congress government executed a complete loan waiver as promised by the chief minister, he said the party would soon draw up an agitation programme for the same.
Badal today met the family of debt ridden farmer Major Singh of Teda Kalan village in Ajnala who ended his life by consuming a poisonous substance on Tuesday.
A suicide note was also reportedly found in which he had accused the government of not fulfilling its debt waiver promise, he alleged.

The SAD president announced that he had instructed SAD district presidents to meet families of persons who commit suicide under the burden of debt.
"The district presidents will take affidavits from them and ask if they have been given the promised Rs ten lakh compensation and a government job or not", Sukhbir said.

He demanded an immediate waiver of the total accumulated loan of Major Singh.
He claimed Major Singh's family had told him that he had taken loan from nationalised and cooperative banks and also local money lenders.
He demanded giving Rs 10 lakh compensation to the aggrieved family as well as a police Inspector's job to the deceased's son.

Attacking the government, Badal said this was the main reason why the SAD had demanded that Finance minister Manpreet Badal be booked for allegedly abetment to suicide in the case of Major Singh.
He said it was the finance minister who had "failed" to implement the total loan waiver commitment made by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha.
No notification on debt waiver has yet been issued, he said.