Chandigarh, Sep 5 (IANS): Saying the government is mulling to introduce a scheme to wave off farm loans, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh on Thursday assured leaders of protesting farmers that the government is committed to safeguard their interests and new agriculture policy will be a step forward in this direction.

At a meeting with a delegation of the BKU (Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, whose members have been camping here for the past five days over their demands, the Chief Minister said the draft of the Punjab Agriculture Policy is ready but will be finalised only after due deliberations with food growers.

He said the draft will be shared with the farmers by September 30 and their suggestions will be sought on the policy.

Mann said suggestions from the farmers will be duly incorporated into the policy as the government does not want to impose anything on the food growers, rather it is committed to consulting them about making agriculture a profitable venture.

Dwelling on another agenda, the Chief Minister said the government is also mulling introducing a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to offer much-needed relief to debt-ridden farmers who have been struggling to repay loans to cooperative banks.

He said every effort will be made to bail out the farmers of the state from the ongoing agrarian crisis.

Mann said the government is solidly with the food growers of the state who, through hard work and resilience, have made the country self-reliant on food production.

On the issue of withdrawing the cases registered against leaders of farmer unions, the Chief Minister asked the officers to explore the feasibility of this to secure the interests of farmers and a way out will be found in this regard.

He also assured the farmers the government will re-examine the rejected cases pertaining to compensation for suicides committed by farmers and labourers.

Mann also asked officers concerned to reconcile the cases of five marla plots to be given to the needy persons, besides directing them to make the 5-marla plots free from encroachment within three-six months across the state.

The Chief Minister assured the delegation of farmers and farm labourers to sympathetically look into issues like compensation for the death of dairy livestock, depleting groundwater table, water pollution and Buddha Nullah and others.