Farmers lay seige to railway track for loan waiver

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 4

Farmer activists staged a protest on the Amritsar-Delhi rail track at Devi Das Pura village on the fourth consecutive day of their protest near Mannawala here on Monday. Addressing the protesters, Kisan Sangarsh Committee president Satnam Singh Pannu said farmers were being harassed and humiliated by banks and other financial institutes for their failure to repay loans.

“Even as the state government, under Capt Amarinder Singh, has announced loan waiver, farmers are being humiliated. Financial institutes are issuing auction notices and even arrest warrants are being issued to harass the farmers under duress. Farmers’ land is being taken over by financial institutions,” he said.

Pannu said farmers were not being paid adequate dues of their crops and are being forced to live a miserable life. “An amount of Rs 400 crore is pending as dues towards the sale of sugarcane even as the farmers are being forced to pay interest on loans taken by them. If farmers get their money in time, they can repay loans on time,” said Pannu.

The protesting farmers also demanded return of the blank cheques taken from them at the time of issuing loans. They also demanded an interest of 15 per cent be paid on dues of sugarcane farmers.

The committee further demanded that the land cultivators should be given permanent ownership rights over agricultural land in the state.