Chandigarh, May 5 (IANS) Punjab will approach the union government seeking a fresh loan waiver for the farmers as the early waiver benefited just one percent of the farming community, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said here Wednesday.

'The union government cannot ignore the problems of Punjab farmers who are contributing more than 70 percent grain to the food kitty of the country. Previous loan waiver was tailor-made to favour farmers of only those states which have big strength of MPs in parliament,' said Badal.

'Punjab would seek fresh loan waiver on the basis of performance and contribution of farmers. Besides, we have already sought Rs.3,500 crore package to rejuvenate our 100-year-old canal network that is the backbone of agriculture sector.'

Talking about the re-grouping of terrorists in the state, Badal said, 'Punjab police are keeping a close eye on the situation and we would not allow either Naxalism (Maoism) or terrorism to emerge.'

'In the wake of these threats, we have sought Rs.200 crore package from the central government to modernize the police force by adding sophisticated equipments,' he said.