New Delhi, Sept 29
The Manmohan Singh Cabinet today approved Rs 16,978.69 crore rehabilitation package for farmers in suicide-prone districts in four states, but Punjab did not get even a penny.
The Prime Minister had raised the hopes of farmers in the state by his assurances in Ludhiana, but on his return to the Capital, the plight of Punjab farmers was far off the radar of the Cabinet and was not covered in the farm package.
According to state government estimates, Punjab farmers are indebted by Rs 24,000 crore and the political parties cutting across partylines have been demanding package for farmers.
The Cabinet approved rehabilitation package for suicide-prone 31 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Maharashtra. The package consists of Rs 10579.43 crore as subsidy/ grants and Rs 6399.26 as loan.
The implementation of the rehabilitation package will help in mitigating the distress faced by the farmers in the identified districts and will check the spate of suicides by farmers, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, told newspersons after the meeting.
He said this would also reduce the vulnerability of the farmers to the natural calamities.
Mr Chidambaram said the package would be implemented over a period of three years. He said the action for implementation of the package for Maharashtra had already been announced.
In another significant decision, the Cabinet decided to extend for three months Press Note 5, dealing with enhancement of Foreign Direct Investment from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in the telecom sector.
The Cabinet
extended the time period for the resolution of inter-ministerial differences.
