Bathinda: Concerned over the growing number of farmer suicides in Punjab in the past few weeks, peasant outfit BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) on Wednesday held a protest at Bathinda, and asked the union and state governments to take remedial measures to minimize suicides due to debt. It also demanded the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations to ensure remunerative prices of crops, and to adopt Sir Chhotu Ram's recommendations of 1936 about debt waiver, and stopping auction of agricultural land and houses of farmers.
BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) claims these measures may minimize suicides by farmers. Its members also burnt the effigy of Punjab Arhatiya Association president Ravinder Singh Cheema for claiming that farmer suicides were taking place in the state to get ex-gratia compensation of rupees three lakh. Baldev Singh, Bathinda unit chief of BKU (Ekta Sidhupur), said: "Rising number of farm suicides is a serious cause of concern for everyone. The state and the Centre must take some steps which could motivate farmers and farm labourers against taking the extreme step of ending their lives. Implementing the Swaminathan Committee recommendations and adopting Sir Chhotu Ram formula on debt waiver could be the most suitable steps for stopping farm suicides."
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