CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Punjab Lok Congress (PLC)-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance on Tuesday promised waiver of the entire agriculture debt of farmers with less than five acres of landholdings in Punjab.
In the past, Punjab chief ministers – Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi – had repeatedly taken up the issue of complete farm debt waiver with the NDA government at the Centre but BJP had responded that it was a bad call for the economy, pointing to UPA’s decision and outcomes thereof.
Releasing its rural manifesto for the February 20 Punjab assembly elections, the alliance also promised ‘Mehnat Da Pakka Mull’ under which the minimum support price (MSP) for farmers growing fruits, vegetables, pulses, and oilseeds will be guaranteed as part of the central government’s MSP extension programme. A dedicated annual budget of Rs 5,000 crore for agriculture to sustain the crop diversification in the state has also been promised.
BJP's poll manifesto promises 24x7 power supply, 300 free units
BJP incharge for Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, SAD (Sanyukt) president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and BJP state general secretary Subhash Sharma released the rural manifesto. The alliance has promised one lakh acre of shamlat land allocation to rural landless farmers for cultivation and every landless farmer would be given an annual financial assistance of Rs 6,000 under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Yojana.
All villages are promised 24x7 power supply and 300 units free electricity will be provided to each household and above it, the electricity tariff will be Rs 3 per unit for domestic purposes. Free of cost rainwater harvesting units will be installed to arrest depleting water table and subsidies will be given for alternative automated and smart irrigation systems to conserve water.
Organised milk marketing system will be developed by establishing milk chilling centres in every village and milk processing units in a cluster of every 30 villages. Veterinary aid centres, artificial insemination and breeding centres will be established in every tehsil.
The manifesto also promises subsidies and loans to women and those belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes and economically weaker sections to start businesses in dairy farming, poultry farming and bee-keeping. The alliance also promised subsidies to agro-based industries. Tax-exempt agro-based industrial clusters comprising small and medium enterprises shall be formed to attract investment in rural areas and mega food processing parks will be established.
To promote rural entrepreneurship, funds will be allocated annually to promote rural startups. To promote MSMEs, interest and collateral-free loans will be given to the rural youth with an easy payback mechanism.
Each village will have Aarogya Kendras (clinics) with 24x7 doctor facility and laboratory, in which all kinds of tests can be done. Availability of '108 ambulance' service with permanent drivers will be ensured in all rural areas within 15 minutes.
Other promises include permanent houses for all economically weaker sections, clean piped drinking water facilities to every household, playgrounds at the village level to encourage youngsters to participate in sports, high-quality smart schools in villages, annual stipend to EWS and handicapped students and all girls belonging to scheduled caste till 10th class.
Amount of cash rewards given to medal winners in the important international and national games will be revised on the lines of Haryana and gold medal winners in Olympics or Paralympics will get Rs 6 crore each, silver medalists Rs 4 crore each, bronze medalists Rs 2.5 crore each and those participating in these events will get Rs 15 lakh each. Anyone qualifying for these games will get at least Rs 15 lakh.
