Punjab waives ₹68cr loan for Dalit families

All 4,727 cases (including 4,685 defaulting loanees and 42 regular loanees) will be covered under this loan waiver scheme

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The Punjab Cabinet Tuesday gave its nod to waive loans amounting ₹68 crore taken by over 4,000 Dalit families from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said.

At a cabinet meeting chaired by Mann in Chandigarh, it was decided that loans disbursed till March 31, 2020 will be waived.

Addressing the media after the meeting, the chief minister said the state government will waive the debt incurred due to loans taken by Dalit families from the corporation for various purposes, including for opening shops, dairy farming, etc.

The decision will benefit 4,727 beneficiaries, he said.

Mann said Finance Minister Harpal Sigh Cheema in his budget speech this March had promised to waive the debt. With the cabinet approval, the promise will now be fulfilled, he said.