The Punjab government has approved financial assistance of Rs 888 Lakh in 314 cases of farmer suicide cases across the state.

Disclosing this on Monday, the state Revenue minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said that the State Level Committee (SLC) constituted in this regard has sanctioned the relief in ten meetings held till date starting from April last year.

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The minister pointed out that SLC has approved Rs 53 Lakh in 18 such cases including six from Bathinda, four in Mansa, six in Tarn Taran and two in Patiala districts during its last meeting.

With the release of Rs 888 Lakh, the Congress government had provided the highest ever relief to the victim families in such cases since the launch of this scheme in 2015, informed the minister.

Sarkaria further said that financial assistance to the next of the kin of the deceased was being provided. He also mentioned that review meetings were held at districts and state level to ensure timely disbursal of compensation to the victim families of hapless farmers and farm labourers, who ended their lives in sheer desperation on account of whopping burden of debt.

All the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) have been directed to scrutinise such cases within their jurisdiction on monthly basis during the meetings of district-level committees headed by them. The DCs have been asked to forward these cases to SLC for approval positively by tenth day of every month.

Sarkaria further said that the state government was fully committed to ensure welfare of the farmers and leaving no stone unturned to bail them out from the current agrarian crisis despite having limited resources at their end.

He further urged the Centre to immediately implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission so as to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers of their produce on one hand and make agriculture economically viable on the other.

The Revenue minister further appealed to the farmers and farm labourers not to take such extreme step by committing suicides. “Rather they (farmers) should join hands with Punjab government to transform the destiny of beleaguered peasantry reeling under acute burden of debt,” he said.

Meanwhile, addressing a public event in Hoshiarpur, the State Industry and Commerce minister, Sunder Sham Arora said that debt worth Rs 96.36 Crore of 10,481 farmers of the Hoshiarpur district has been waived off so far.

Arora said that under the debt waiver scheme 2,02,111 farmers have been given the relief to the tune of Rs 999.67 crore.