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PM letter to loan waiver beneficiaries
Abhinav Pandey in Lucknow
 
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August 11, 2008 11:32 IST

Seeking to cash in on the massive farm loan waiver scheme ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to its beneficiaries across the country 'seeking their support'.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to farmers to seek their support. The letter will be reaching them soon. The debt waiver of over Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) has benefited crores of farmers in the country and they will be reached individually by the partymen," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh said in Lucknow.

With the Lok Sabha polls just months away, the Congress is all out to woo the people especially farmers in the Hindi heartland by explaining to them the welfare measures being initiated by the United Progressive Alliance dispensation.

The Congress, which is expected to enter into an alliance with Samajawadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, also plans to include at least two to three members of the beneficiaries' family into the party.

"The list of all the beneficiaries, whose debt were waived by the Centre will be available on the website of banks in next few days," a senior party leader told PTI.

Admitting that the part has become 'city-centric' in the state, state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that the party will reach out the rural folk and take the welfare measures of the UPA government to the people's court.

"With two-three members of each farmers' family in Congress fold we can expect better results in the coming parliamentary elections," Joshi said.

Senior party leaders said that the party is not working on a short term goal of winning the Lok Sabha elections but is eyeing the 2012 assembly elections.

The party also plans to finish the task of reconstituting its committees at gram-panchayat level by September and is expected to give due representation to people from backward and Dalit communities.

Close to 1.5 crore farmers in Uttar Pradesh have been benefited by the Centre's massive loan waiver scheme.

Also, the UPCC plans to take the Indo-US nuclear deal, National Rural Employment Guarantee and Right to Information Act to the people's court through booklets explaining the benefits of the schemes.

A booklet titled Highlights of budget 2008-09 Congress ka haat, Anndata (farmer) ke saath will be distributed among the people.


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