Navjot Kaur Sidhu writes to PM Modi over loan waivers for Punjab farmers

Former chief parliamentary secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for loan waiver to farmers with less than five-acre landholding.

In a letter written to PM Modi, a copy of which she shared on Twitter, the wife of former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said that rising cost, dip in income and increased incidences of indebtedness among small and marginal farmers manifested in a spate of suicides over the year.

'Responsibility of Union government'

“I believe it is the responsibility of the Union government to waive farm loans,” she wrote. "Small farmers having less than 5 acres of land should be given free power or subsidised power to give them more access to irrigation facilities," she added. 

In her letter, the Congress leader pointed out that Madhya Pradesh does not fall under the specialised zone for Basmati cultivation and it was for this reason that the State was not included in the indigenous area of basmati cultivation India.

'China will be equally benefitted'

"Madhya Pradesh's move is a direct violation of the GI tagging procedure and laws. Any attempt to breach the GI tagging areas will not only hit the status of aromatic basmati cultivation in India's specialised areas but will also negate the purpose of GI tagging regulation in the Indian context," Sidhu wrote.

READ | Shivraj Chouhan seeks GI tag for Madhya Pradesh’s Basmati rice; meets Union agriculture minister

"Inclusion of Madhya Pradesh into GI list of Basmati will hurt India globally and Pakistan will grab the opportunity to start sowing Basmati all across the country. China will be equally benefitted. The issue is bigger than the loss to one state, it will be a loss to Basmati brand," she added.

READ | Basmati GI tagging: Shivraj Chouhan slams Punjab CM Amarinder Singh over letter to PM Modi

Madhya Pradesh government has been pushing for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for basmati rice. Madhya Pradesh’s demand has already been rejected once. The state applied for getting the GI tag for basmati cultivation in 2017-18. However, the Registrar of Geographical Indications (RGI) rejected it. After that, the state appealed for the same in Madras Court but was unable to get relief.

READ | Punjab CM requests PM Modi not to allow GI tagging of MP Basmati, worries advantage to Pak

Earlier, Punjab CM had asked PM Modi to maintain the status quo on GI tagging for basmati amid the concerns over giving an advantage to Pakistan.  Apart from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh and select districts of Jammu and Kashmir have GI tagging for basmati. The MP government has sought 13 of its districts for the same. 

READ | Jammu farmers demand GI certification for Basmati rice, days after saffron was issued tag

(With agency inputs)