The government's respect for the law should not be mistaken for a soft approach towards terrorism, which would be fought tooth and nail, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.
JALANDHAR (PUNJAB): The government's respect for the law should not be mistaken for a soft approach towards terrorism, which would be fought tooth and nail, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said here on Sunday.
"Although we respect human rights and laws and want these to be applied to everyone, our tolerance and respect of law should not be mistaken as soft approach towards terrorism because Government of India is determined to fight terrorism tooth and nail," he said at a function here organised by Hind Samachar Group of newspapers to disburse the Shaheed Parivar Fund.
Terrorism has no religion and caste and no country of the world is immune to terror as every major city in the world, be it in United States or the United Kingdom, is feeling the heat of terrorism, the Union Finance Minister said and added that the world should unite against terrorism.
He said that terrorism was wiped out in Punjab due to the support of the people and similarly it would be wiped out from all over the country.
On the issue of food scarcity in the country, Chidambaram said "I came here to salute the farmers of Punjab, as it contributed maximum share of food grain in the buffer stock for Public Distribution System (PDS).
For the last two years, situation of the food stock has changed as godowns of the country are full of food grains and credit for the current situation goes to the farmers of Punjab," the minister said, revealing that production of wheat has increased by eight million tonne, rice by 10 million tonne and pulses by two million tonne.
Chidambaram said that in order to encourage the agriculture sector, the Centre has earmarked Rs 25,000 crore for the Krishi Vikas Yojana and Rs 4,882 crore for the National Food Security Mission.
This was the first time the provision of such an amount for agriculture sector was made in the Union Budget and apart from this new seeds and fertilizers would be provided to the farmers, he said.
To develop organic farming and encourage horticulture in the country, new godowns would be constructed Chidambaram said, adding that crop loans at seven per cent interest would be provided to farmers.
He assured that by June 30, as promised in the Union Budget, agricultural loans of Rs 60,000 crore would be waived off.
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