In an initiative to help the beleaguered farmer community, a number of people, including NRIs and locals, have come forward to donate money through the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the families whose one or more members have committed suicide.
Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira said the AAP was just a facilitator between the donors and recipients and would not open any special bank account for the purpose.
Surjeet Singh, father of Australian NRI Rashpal Singh, originally of Charar village (Jalandhar), handed over a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to the family of Davinder Singh of Chanarthal Khurd village in Fatehgarh Sahib today.
All three male members of the family had committed suicide in the recent past after failing to repay the loan taken from a local commission agent.
Khaira added that after his call to the NRIs a few days ago, many of them contacted him to help the farmers in the state.
He said Jeet Singh Kular (Canada), Raju Purewal (Canada), Dashmesh Singh Pannu (Canada) and Jaswinder Singh Latti (Italy) have promised to donate Rs 1 lakh each to the farmers’ families, while Manjeet Singh Ghumman (Holland) has offered to pay monthly pension of Rs 2,500 each to the widows of Dalit Khet Mazdoor families.
Another donor from Moga — Happy — has offered to donate Rs 25,000 to any victim family.
Khaira said he had also donated Rs 50,000 to a migrant family of Kapurthala whose five members had committed suicide after consuming poison in June.
Terming the initiative as “Peedit Kisan-Majdoor Bachao Muhim” (Save indebted farmers-labourer initiative), Khaira made a fervent appeal to Punjabi NRIs to come forward and help the aggrieved families with an open heart.
