Farmers in Karnataka facing financial crises could expect a better deal in the form of a relief package from the Centre. Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kisan Morcha, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had convened a meeting to look into the problems confronting in Karnataka, Maharashtra and a few other parts of the country on August 1.
The Centre was finding ways to prevent farmers’ suicides and provide relief to those who have suffered losses due to various reasons, he said. Teams of the Kisan Morcha had undertaken study visits to prepare a report to present to the Prime Minister for review and take suitable measures to mitigate their problems, he said.
He said that Mr. Modi had appealed to growers not to lose their confidence. Criticising the previous Congress rule in the Centre, he said the party did very little to improve the financial conditions of farmers and remained preoccupied with developing “vote banks” and “land banks”. It was during the Congress rule that the farmers’ suicide assumed a phenomenal proportion. Even the Congress government in Karnataka failed to take due concrete and immediate measures to prevent suicides, he said.
The BJP-led NDA government had earmarked Rs.75,000 crore to the agricultural sector in the Budget and also announced a package of Rs.6,000 crore to sugar industries. But, no such measure was visible in Karnataka, he said. Mr.Tomar met the bereaved families of farmers who committed suicide in different parts of the district. He also visited some of the agricultural fields to see the impact of deficit rainfall on crops.
Mr. Tomar interacted with farmers at a ‘Raith Sampark’ meeting in Dodwad villages to get feedback on the crises and the measures to be taken.
