Centre extends deadline for rabi crop insurance till Jan 10
The Union Government has extended the timeline for farmers to get enrolled in the rabi crop insurance scheme till January 10,…
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday raised the issue of the economic plight of the debt-ridden farmers of Punjab at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Captain Amarinder, who was part of the Congress delegation led by party national vice president Rahul Gandhi, said farmers, burdened with loans, were committing suicide in Punjab and other parts of the country.
Talking to mediapersons after the meeting at Parliament House, Captain Amarinder said the problems of the farmers were being compounded by the manner in which agricultural issues, including MSP, were being handled by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
Capt said the Congress had sought the prime minister’s support to alleviate the debt and other woes of the farmers. The Prime Minister, he said, assured to look into the matter. Capt said he had spoken at the meeting about the farmers’ plight in Punjab while other leaders from Uttar Pradesh had highlighted the situation in their state.
Responding to questions from mediapersons, Capt said the demonetisation had aggravated the problems of the farmers. In Punjab, where farmers were totally dependant on cooperative banks for their cash requirements, 7,000 of the 12,700 villages had no bank branches or ATMs, he pointed out, asking the Modi government how the farmers could be expected to survive in such a situation.
Reacting to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s claim that the post-demonetisation situation in the country would stabilise in another 2-3 weeks, Captain Amarinder said he did not see the situation improving even in the next one year.
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