Farmers in the state of Punjab demanded that the Indian government cancel their agricultural debts, The Economic Times newspaper reported on June 24.
According to the report, farmers in Punjab state demanded the same conditions that farmers in Telangana state received. There, the government canceled debts to farmers in an amount not exceeding 200 thousand rupees (~$2.5 thousand).
The coalition of Indian farmers’ unions “Samyukt Kisan Morcha” expressed its official attitude towards this event.
“We welcome the Telangana government’s waiver and urge the central and Punjab governments to waive farm loan (debts) to Punjab farmers.””, the newspaper quotes the organization’s statement.
The coalition recalled that the head of the Telangana administration, Amarinder Singh, announced debt relief in 2018. At the same time, approximately 560 thousand farmers were able to benefit from this for a total amount of 46 billion rupees (~500 million of dollars). This volume was considered insufficient in this organization.
“We ask the central government to announce the abolition [долгов], from cash benefit of Rs.6000 (~$70 – approx. IA Krasnaya Vesna) per year under the Prime Minister Kisan Yojana government is woefully insufficient to alleviate the suffering of the indebted farmers of Punjab.”“, the coalition emphasized.
The report recalls that since 2014, the governments of ten Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Telingana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu) have announced loan waivers to farmers. This affected about 35 million homes. The amounts varied from state to state.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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