The farmers of Chitral affected by earthquake and flood staged a protest demonstration against the government for non-waiving off of their agricultural loans.
The protesting farmers gathered in front of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to Chitral last year after the flood had announced to waive off agricultural loans of farmers affected by earthquake and flood. They said their loans have not been waived off as of yet and the agricultural bank officials are teasing them.
They said the prime minister had also announced Rs 500,000 compensation for the owners of completely damaged houses after the earthquake. However, they alleged that the assistance was given to influential people only and deserving people remained deprived.
“How will we pay our agricultural loans when no crops were produced in our fields? We demand the prime minister and finance minister to issue notification for waiving off our loans and the same notification should be issued to the Chitral agriculture bank also,” a protesting farmer said.
The Agricultural Development Bank Manager Hayat Shah said the bank has not received any notification from the head office regarding waiving off of agricultural loans. He said the bank cannot waive off loans without receiving instructions from the head office.
Affected farmers of Chitral appealed to the PM for issuing early notification for remittance of agricultural loans as per his commitment during his visit to Chitral.