Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal will gherao the Punjab Vidhan Sabha premises on the opening day of the forthcoming budget session on March 20 to protest over the debt waiver issue.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the core committee of the party today. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal said, "We want to force the government to honour its commitments to the poor and innocent farmers".

The core committee was firmly of the view that the state government had treated the farmers of the state with "criminal neglect and insensitivity, making wild excuses to go back on what they had declared as their sacred promises to the peasantry".

"First they said that they were not aware of the financial position of the state when they made the promises whereas they had been issuing white papers on the fiscal situation before the elections.

"If they were unaware of the financial position then how could they make a provision for Rs 1,500 crore in the budget for the last year? Now they are claiming to distribute just Rs 370 crore, even which has run into problems because of their inefficiency. This is worse than shedding crocodile tears," the core committee said in a resolution.

In another resolution in the meeting, the SAD "profusely and wholeheartedly" thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for paying obeisance at the Golden Temple.

The resolution adopted at the meeting said, "We are specially touched by the gesture of the Government of Canada in putting our Sikh brethren and sisters in positions of high honour and great responsibility, including key cabinet berths in the federal government.

"On behalf of the people of Punjab, the Sikhs in particular, we express our profound gratitude to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the love and trust.  PTI