Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and made a strong pitch for a one-time loan waiver for the debt-ridden farmers of the state.
Singh met Modi in his Parliament complex office, first time after becoming the Chief Minister.
"It was an extension of the demand we made earlier when we had gone to meet the PM as part of a Congress delegation led by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi... a loan waiver should be extended to Punjab farmers along the lines of Uttar Pradesh," he told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.
He said the mounting farm debt is making agriculture increasingly unsustainable, endangering not only the food security of the nation but also the social fabric of the sensitive border state.
In a letter to Modi, the chief minister had said the total farm debt in Punjab was more than Rs 80,000 crore including crop loans in the cooperative sector of about Rs 12,500 crore.
Earlier, he met Finance Minister Arun jaitley to seek financial support for the procurement of crop. "We have sought a support of Rs 20,653 crore on this account. The finance minister was very supportive. We expect wheat to land in mandis in two to three days," Singh said.
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