Punjab’s crop loan waiver scheme has been hailed as a successful model. How does it feel?

I am happy other Congress-led states have adopted our model. The party chief has already announced that if elected to power at the Centre, a similar waiver for farmers across the country will be announced.

Are you content with the results of the waiver?We have kept our promise to small and marginal farmers despite the Rs 1.95 lakh crore debt burden we inherited. An additional burden of Rs 31,000 crore on food account was forced on the people by the SAD-BJP  barely a week before it relinquished office. It makes me happy that we could work out a formula and keep our promise to the farmers. But it saddens me that we have not been able to give 100 per cent relief to all debt-ridden farmers. As things improve, we shall extend the scheme to farm labourers.

BJP, SAD claim the scheme exists only on paper.They are, perhaps, confusing Punjab with UP, where amounts less than a rupee are reported to have been disbursed. As on December 28, a total of 3,13,715 farmers were given loan waiver by cooperative banks, with the total amount standing at Rs 1,779.94 crore; as many as 19,456 farmers received amounts above Rs 1.5 lakh and 28,552 between Rs 1-1.5 lakh. Only 19,601 farmers got amounts less than Rs 10,000, totalling Rs 11.49 crore, which is the loan amount pending against them in coop banks.

Are real numbers being brushed under the carpet?

It’s because of vested interests, especially when the LS polls are near. Everyone in Punjab knows about the plight of farmers under the SAD-BJP rule. As per PAU data, 9,155 farm suicides were reported owing to debt between 2007 and 2017 — a shocking 915 suicides a year. In contrast, there have been 140 such cases between March 2017 and December 2018, a decline of 84 per cent.

Will you extend waiver to farmers who have availed loans exceeding Rs 2 lakh? 

As of now, we cannot do that. But we are moving in that direction. Before I demit office, every debt-ridden farmer would have been covered.

Does not the waiver create a bad credit culture?

It is only a temporary solution. The situation now warrants immediate and direct support. We are also looking at long-term measures, such as diversification.

You may wish free power away but when farmers are already economically stressed, we cannot impose such a decision. — Capt Amarinder Singh