Loan waiver won't benefit Punjab farmers: BKU factions

Two factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have said that the agriculture loan waiver announced by the Punjab chief minister "will not benefit" farmers of the state.
BKU (Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh and BKU (Ekta) general secretary Sukhdev Singh have demanded that the benefit be extended for loans taken from commission agents and commercial banks.
They alleged that the Congress government led by Amarinder Singh has failed to honour its pre-poll promises.
"The Amarinder Singh government has failed to fulfil the promises made in election manifesto," they said in a statement.
"The anti-farmer policy of the state government is forcing many farmers to commit suicide," they added.

Sukhdev Singh said they would consult other farmer organisations to chart their next course of action after their July 7 convention.
The chief minister had yesterday announced in the Assembly waiving crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (with land holding of up to 5 acres), and a flat Rs 2 lakh relief for all other marginal farmers, irrespective of their loan amount.