Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today asked the commission agents to not overcharge the farmers in the state and weed out those who charged exorbitant interest rates on crop loans.
The commission agents in Punjab and Haryana, also known as 'aartiyas', give loans to farmers while mortgaging their land or property. Since the government has no control over them, they sometimes charge unreasonable rate of interest.
Addressing a meeting of aartiyas, under the umbrella of the Federation of Aartiyas Association of Punjab, Amarinder made it clear that the interests of the farmers would be protected at all costs.
"It is our bounden duty to safeguard the interests of the farming community, and the state government has already taken a lead by announcing a debt waiver of Rs 1500 crore in the first phase," said Amarinder.
He asked the delegation members to identify those "unscrupulous elements" in the aartiya community who were fleecing the farmers by charging higher rate of interest than their mutually agreed 1.5 per cent per month (18 per cent per annum).
"Such elements must be thrown out of the community as a deterrent against such activity in the future", he said.
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