Punjab govt working for wellbeing of underprivileged sections, says CM Mann at loan waiver event
Amritsar, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said his government is working untiringly for the wellbeing of the state's weaker and underprivileged sections.
Addressing a gathering after handing over loan waiver certificates to the beneficiaries here, Mann said the previous governments in the state waived loans of the affluent people but didn't bother about the welfare of the poor.
'For the first time in the history of Punjab, this reprieve is being extended to the underprivileged and weaker sections of society,' Mann said.
The loan waiver scheme worth ₹67.84 crore has benefited around 4,800 families of loanees of the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation , the chief minister said.
On June 3, the Punjab Cabinet gave its nod to waive loans amounting to ₹67.84 crore taken by over 4,000 Dalit families from the PSCFC.
Mann said the waiver covers all loans disbursed by the PSCFC up to March 31, 2020, offering significant relief to SC and Divyangjan loanees.
The move will benefit 4,727 loanees for an aggregate amount of ₹67.84 crore. The scheme will cover all the loanees, including 4,685 defaulting loanees and 42 regular loanees, government sources said.
Addressing the gathering, Mann said 'no due certificates' will be issued by the state government and the full amount of ₹67.84 crore comprising principal, interest and penal interest calculated as of April 30, 2025, will be reimbursed to the PSCFC by the state government.
The loanees who previously availed benefits under the earlier waiver schemes are also eligible for coverage under this initiative, Mann said.
No recovery proceedings will be initiated against the loanees and their accounts will be considered fully settled as of the cut-off date, he added.
According to the 2011 Census, Scheduled Castes constitute 31.94 per cent of Punjab's total population and many members of this community have availed loans from the PSCFC to set up self-employment ventures aimed at economic upliftment.
However, Mann said some borrowers were unable to repay their loans due to circumstances beyond their control, leading to defaults.
These families could not repay their loans due to circumstances such as demise of the main earning member, prolonged illness, or having no other source of income, etc.
Recovering these loans from such people was unjust, so the state government has decided to waive them, the chief minister said.
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Paswan Tola, a village in Hajipur dominated by the Paswans, is caught in a transition. A few brick-and-mortar houses sit awkwardly between straw-and-clay structures here. It is mid-morning, and Vinod Paswan, a rickshaw puller in his mid-40s, is eating watery dal with rice and mango pickle. This meal must serve him till he returns home in the evening. Dressed in a ganji and lungi, he rinses his steel plate and sits down in his kuchha house. 'Chirag is our king. Can one fight a battle without the king?' he says. Without him in the fray, there isn't much to look forward to in the election,' he claims. Dharamdeo Paswan, in his early 60s, lives close to Vinod's house. He says, 'I always wanted to see his father as the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister of Bihar.' He recounts the times he had seen the senior Paswan campaigning in the area. For him and many others, the switch from father to son is organic. Unlike Vinod, he is not bothered whether Chirag contests or not. 'Bihar main vote aur beti aapne jaat main dete hai,' (In Bihar, casting your vote and marrying your daughter are both decided by caste). New vs old For many, Chirag represents a new phase of Bihar's politics. 'I am very happy that Chirag Paswan is planning to contest the Assembly election. He has been an MP for the last 10 years. It's time for him to work in Bihar. His presence in the election will surely make a difference,' says Ambika Paswan, 65, a resident of Lalganj in Vaishali district. He is a retired government employee, sipping his morning tea and poring over the morning newspaper at the local tea stall. Mangesh Kumar, 27, a committed Paswan voter and resident of Patna who works as a mutual fund investor, likes that Chirag is 'young and energetic', adding that 'he has many years left in politics, whereas Nitishji these days does not look healthy.' Chirag has been incrementally building the stage for his entry into Bihar politics. In April, more than six months away from the poll, he announced to the press in Patna: 'Bihar mujhe bula raha hai,' (Bihar is calling me). He added that he would spend more time there than in Delhi. Then began sound bytes and social media from his party MPs urging him to contest the Bihar Assembly election. His brother-in-law and the party's Jamui MP upped the ante on June 1 with his post on X. The party workers, he said, want Chirag to contest from a general seat to send out the message that he was now ready to lead not just one section (the Dalits), but the whole of Bihar. However, the next day in Raipur, Chirag said to the media: 'There is no vacancy for the CM post in Bihar.' He also said, 'The party is evaluating whether my candidature will benefit it. Because when national leaders contest State elections, that strengthens your position in the election. The BJP has tried this strategy many times by fielding their MPs in the Assembly election and have benefitted.' He added that Kumar would return as the CM. The NDA is going into the poll with Nitish as their Chief Ministerial face, but a leader from Chirag's party says, 'The party is preparing for all eventualities.' With almost 20 years of Kumar's government — he is Bihar's longest serving CM — there is some voter fatigue. Nand Kishor Sharma, 45, is a lohar (blacksmith) both by caste and profession. At Gadai Sarai village, Hajipur, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, Nand Kishor sits before the fire working on a shovel. He's also cooking on the side. He speaks between the rhythmic fall of his hammer. Lohars are part of the Extremely Backward Classes, a sub-group of Other Backward Classes, created by Nitish Kumar for better outreach of government-sponsored welfare schemes. 'There should be a change,' Nand Kishor declares. He asserts that Bihar needs 'young and energetic' leaders. 'I do not know who will form the government but that there are several eligible: Chirag Paswan, Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), or Samrat Choudhary (senior BJP leader, Deputy CM).' Ratnesh Kumar, 55, a resident of Muzaffarpur city in central Bihar, who runs a dry-cleaning shop, has a litany of complaints: 'I have not seen any change in the last 10 years except good roads and electricity. Crime has increased, and every day something happens and we have to close our shops. My son has been trying for a (State) government job for the past three year but there are few jobs.' Edited by Sunalini Mathew
