In Bhagwant Mann's 'One-Time' Promise On Farm Debt, A Decade-Old Echo

Farm debt is once again emerging as a major political issue in Punjab, with the Bhagwant Mann government announcing a proposed One Time Settlement (OTS) policy. The policy, particularly for loans taken from cooperative banks and societies, comes at a politically significant time, less than a year before the 2027 state elections, putting farm debt back at the centre of Punjab's rural politics in particular.The AAP move also reminds of the Congress campaign of 2017, when Captain Amarinder Singh made farm loan waiver one of his biggest electoral promises. The promise became a key weapon against the then SAD-BJP government and helped Congress mobilise the rural vote for returning to power after a decade.The Mann government's announcement, however, is not a blanket loan waiver. A committee, with participation from political parties, will formulate the OTS policy and determine how outstanding loans are to be settled, as per the plan.