Chandigarh, March 28: Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday that the Congress government would stick to its commitment of Rs 9,500-crore farm debt waiver, even as a provision of Rs 4,250 crore has been made in the 2018-19 Budget for the purpose.
Speaking on the Governor’s Address, he reiterated that free power to farmers would continue.
He also announced to take over the debt of families of farmers who had committed suicide. A scheme for the same will be notified after the Vidhan Sabha Committee — set up to study such deaths — submits its report, Capt Amarinder added.
The CM announced to soon amend the Punjab Settlement of Agriculture Indebtedness Act, 2016, to provide farmers an effective forum for reconciliation of their non-institutional (arhtiyas’) loans.
Dismissing the allegations that Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) had been denied an appointment for the submission of his report into the sacrilege cases, the CM said the commission was yet to complete the probe.
He said the commission had finished a probe into the Behbal Kalan and Bargari incidents, while cases pertaining to holy books such as Bhagavad Gita, Gutka Sahib and Quran were still under investigation.
\He rejected Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia’s request that the investigation into these cases be handed over to a retired Supreme Court judge since Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) was related to Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Of the 32 cases of sacrilege, 22 had been solved, he said, adding that the fact that no such incident had taken place since the Congress took over suggested the involvement of the previous ruling party.
Source Tribune India
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