Farmer associations in western Odisha have questioned the necessity of holding back-to-back farmer rallies by political parties while their basic problems remain unaddressed.
More than 100 farmer leaders representing different associations met at Bargarh on Sunday to seek answers from the Prime Minister on a set of ‘uncomfortable’ questions. The PM is scheduled to address a farmer rally at Bargarh on next Sunday.
“The next elections are years away. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have already staged farmer march and rally in Bargarh district which has witnessed more farmer suicides than any other Odisha district. Now, Mr. Modi will address farmers at Bargarh on February 21. We don’t see any logic behind such rallies,” said Paschim Odisha Krushak Sangthan Samannaya Cell convenor Saroj Mohanty.
“It is sheer wastage of money being spent to mobilise thousands of supporters to the meeting venues. If same funds and efforts could be channelised through line departments to solve little problems of farmers, there would have positive change in the sector,” Mr. Mohanty pointed out.
“When the PM addresses farmers here next Sunday, we expect him to answer a few questions such as why did his government stop bonus for farmers during procurement? Where is the bottleneck in implementing M.S. Swaminathan Committee’s recommendations on fixing the Minimum Support Price which should be cost of production plus its 50 per cent and why was there 10 per cent reduction in budgetary provisions for agriculture,” he said.
“According to sources, the PM will definitely brag on the new insurance policy for farm sector by terming it a game changer. But according to us, it is a historical blunder. Earlier, both Centre and State did have some sort of accountability towards farmers when they incurred losses due to natural disasters. Now, farmers will have to deal with insurance companies to settle their claims, which will definitely make things worse for us,” said the farmer leader.
Mr. Mohanty added: “There are big expectations among the government employees about the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. Mr. Modi, who has promised to change the face of agriculture, will make his stand clear as to how the farmers will get assured income from their field. He should also set up one Farmers’ Pay Commission.”
Meanwhile, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday reviewed preparation for holding the PM’s mega rally at Bargarh.
Other senior BJP leaders, including State Unit President Basant Panda, accompanied him to the venue.
Source : The Hindu
No comments:
Post a Comment