Chandigarh, October 30: The Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, on Friday organised a discussion on a recent report that found that 85 per cent of agricultural labourers in Punjab were indebted.
The Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU) prepared the report.
Prof RS Ghuman of the CRRID said the state government had waived farmers’ debt up to Rs2 lakh, but no such decision was taken for agricultural labourers. “The government has put forward a strange argument that it does not have any data on debt of agricultural labourers. Now, the PKMU report fills the gap,” he said.
Lachhman Sewewala, general secretary, PKMU, said the study covered 1,618 families from 10 villages in six districts. “On an average, each agricultural labourer’s family is under a debt of Rs91,000,” he said.
The report demanded waiver of labourers’ debt, loan at 4 per cent on the pattern of farmers, at least 5-marla plots along with interest-free loan to build houses and a healthcare policy for labourers.
It raised a concern that non-ownership of land, even for building homes, is a serious constraint on labourers’ capacity to take loans from banks.
The session was chaired by Prof Ronki Ram of Panjab University (PU). Besides, Prof Manjit Singh from PU, Prof Parminder Singh of Amritsar’s GNDU, and PKMU president Zora Singh Nasrali participated in the discussion.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
