New Delhi: A total of 919 farmers have committed suicide in Punjab in the last two years. On Tuesday, the families of some of the deceased farmers protested at the Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh, The Tribune reported. Around 100 families who had gathered under the aegis of the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) raised slogans and carried placards against the ruling Congress government.The son of a farmer who allegedly took his own life due to indebtedness addressed the assembly and read his suicide note. “Sannu jhothe laare laye si sarkar ne (The government made us false promises),” the suicide note read according to The Tribune.According to the Indian Express, some protestors led by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal were stopped around 500 metres from the Vidhan Sabha. The farmers then staged a sit-in protest at the spot.Also read: 430 Punjab Farmers Committed Suicide in One Year Since Loan Waiver RolloutThe SAD has accused the Amarinder Singh-led congress government of not fulfilling its promise of a loan waiver for farmers in the state. “Every time, suffering people want him to listen to their grievances, the chief minister sends armoured police and water guns to greet them instead of coming out to at least give them a sympathetic hearing,” Sukhbir Badal said according to the Times of India.In February 2017, The Congress party had promised that it will waive farm loans of small and marginal farmers upto Rs 2 lakh – which was estimated to cost Rs 10,000 crore. However, two years later, the implementation has been shoddy.According to the government’s figures, 5.84 lakh farmers have benefited from the debt relief scheme – less than a third of the total – and loans of 10.25 lakh eligible farmers are yet to be waived.
