Mysuru: Swaraj India Party president Yogendra Yadav has alleged that the present NDA government was the most anti-farmer government.
Addressing reporters here yesterday after the ‘Kisan Mukti Yatra’ of the All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) entered Mysuru, he said that the indifference of the governments over the past 60 to 70 years is responsible for the pathetic condition of farmers in India.
He said that the yatra, which was launched on July 6 at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, entered South India on Sept. 16 and is expected to culminate at New Delhi on November 20. The governments have been framing unscientific policies and are rendering the agricultural fields useless, he said.
“Over 10 lakh farmers are expected to participate in the rally from Ramlila Maidan to the Parliament to press for demands. The rally is seeking implementation of the recommendations of the Farmers’ Commission which had in 2007, recommended remunerative prices for farm crops and waiver of all accumulated farm loans,” he said.
“The total loans availed by farmers across the nation from various financial institutions is Rs.14.36 lakh crore. The bad debt of industrialists and traders under six different heads is Rs. 12 lakh crore. The government is splitting all the bad debt of the corporates under six heads to show smaller amounts. It is also keen on waiving it off. But, it is not thinking of the farmers,” he said.
Reacting to the proposal of the NITI Aayog to tax wealthy farmers, he said let the government first identify such wealthy farmers who come above the prescribed limit of Rs. 50 lakh per annum whose income is entirely from farming. Let the government tax them and also honour them on Republic Day,” he said.
This post was published on September 23, 2017 6:50 pm