SHIMOGA: The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda, said here on Friday that coffee growers with smallholdings are disappointed with the Special Coffee Term Loan announced by the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, on Thursday.

Mr. Deve Gowda appealed to growers not to be misled by the package as it contained very little for them. "Perhaps, the grievances of small coffee growers have not been taken into consideration while preparing the package," he said.

He said he will not allow his party's interest to suffer while staying in the coalition in the State. "I will not surrender or become submissive to anybody. I was not interested in floating the coalition government in Karnataka but agreed to it at the instance of the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi. She called me to her house six times to discuss the possibility of forming the coalition Government with the only intention of preventing the communal forces from coming to power," he said.

Mr. Deve Gowda said the fact that 58 candidates contesting the Assembly election on his party ticket were elected showed that his party has grown substantially. "When my party has grown so much how can I sit quiet without espousing the cause of the poor?," he asked.

Neither the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government nor the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre has done anything for farmers.

When he led a 2,500-strong farmers' delegation to Delhi to apprise the then Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, of the problems of farmers, it failed to evoke an encouraging response.

Later, he submitted the same memorandum, calling it "Magna Carta" of the Janata Dal (S), to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram. He told them that nearly 8,500 farmers had committed suicide as they were unable to repay farm loan on account of drought for three years.

Mr. Deve Gowda alleged that the previous Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, made only an oral assurance that he would attend to the problems of coffee growers but made no allocation to meet their demands. "It was only the coalition government which did something for small coffee growers by writing off interest and penal interest on the agricultural loan which covered the plantation crops too," he said.

He said it was his party, which introduced popular programmes such as fixing 6 per cent rate of interest on farm loan. He wondered whether the Congress ever thought of such programmes.

The former Prime Minister said he will not respond to criticism from the Congress. He had suggested to his party leaders and workers not to make personal references.

Mr. Deve Gowda said he had refrained from personal criticism.

"The party programme is paramount to me. I will not allow any slum, not only in Bangalore but anywhere in the State, to be converted into a commercial complex," he said.

He said there is no change in his threat to the Government that he will take drastic action if steps are not taken before October 2 to improve the conditions of slum dwellers.

He said a booklet highlighting the efforts made by the Janata Dal (Secular) since 1994 and his contribution as Prime Minister had been brought out.

Mr. Deve Gowda said his fight within and without Parliament will get a fillip if his party candidate L.T. Thimmappa Hegde, is elected to the Lok Sabha from Shimoga.

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