BKU demands total waiver of farmers’ loan

Ludhiana, June 20

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) has demanded that the state government should waive off loans of farmers as the Congress had promised, to stop farmers from committing suicides.

Members of the union said though the step of waiving debt up to Rs 2 lakh was a good step, but would not benefit farmers much. They said farmers with around 5 acres have loans for Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. So the waiver of amount of Rs 2 lakh would only prove to be temporary relief. They said the party had promised a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre in case of any harm to crops, but the amount had been reduced to Rs 12,000 per acre. —TNS