Gurdaspur: The Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday during the third phase of farm debt waiver scheme handed over debt relief certificates worth Rs. Rs.156.12 crore to 26,998 farmers from six districts Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr), Amritsar and Tarn Taran.
Pointing out that the third instalment of the debt waiver certificates were being distributed on the auspicious occasion of the Parkash Utsav of ninth Sikh Guru Shri Guru Teg Bahadur ji, the Chief Minister said his government has also decided financial assistance worth Rs. 50,000 each to the landless labourers to bail them out of the current agrarian crisis.
The Chief Minister pointed out that despite the massive financial crisis facing the state, his government was giving the maximum financial assistance to the farmers in terms of debt waiver relief up to Rs.2 lac. This was the highest in the country, he said, pointing out that in case of Uttar Pradesh it was Rs.1 lakh, while the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were waiving off only Rs 50,000 each.
In the first phase, 46,556 marginal farmers of five districts — Mansa, Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar and Moga — were given Rs 167.39 crore.
In the second phase, a total of 29,192 farmers of five districts — Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Fazilka and Ferozepur — were provided Rs 162.16 crore relief last month.