Hundreds of farmers and AAP activists protested on Sunday at the grain market in Mansa town as the Punjab government began a farm debt waiver scheme for a section of marginal, debt-ridden farmers in the state. The farmers, who held the protest under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), termed the scheme as a non-starter.

They said the Congress, which had promised complete debt waiver for farmers, had gone back on its promise to waive off the debt of cooperative and commercial banks, money-lenders and financial institutions. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched the scheme, claiming that it will benefit a total of 5.63 lakh farmers in the initial phase. Farmers were issued debt waiver certificates on the occasion.