Karnataka - Bidar   

KRRS takes out `funeral' procession

Staff Correspondent

BIDAR: Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) took out a mock funeral procession of effigies of all people's representatives from the district, in Bidar on Monday, in protest against what they called the anti-farmer budgets presented by the Union and State governments. They also protested against the delay in the procurement of sugarcane by sugar factories in the district.

President of the State unit of the KRRS Basavaraj Tambake said that Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had not given much attention to crop loans in the Union Budget. He said that as against the need for crop loans to the tune of Rs. ten lakh crore for farmers in the country, Mr. Chidambaram had set aside only Rs 2.25 lakh crore. Thus the Government had failed to use the one proper avenue for investment in the agricultural sector.

Mr. Tambake said that the Union Government had appointed the M.S. Swaminathan Committee to study the problems of farmers. However, none of its recommendations had been followed. There were 400 pending irrigation projects in the country. They should have been taken up on priority and more funds should have been allocated for them, he said. However, Mr. Chidambaram had set aside only 0.53 per cent of the total budget towards completing such projects.

District president of the KRRS Vishwanath Patil Koutha said that the State Government had not taken any steps to prevent suicides of farmers. He said that while Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had promised to waive Rs. 26,000 crore of crop loans, it was announced in the budget that only Rs. 2,000 crore would be waived.

The protestors submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Munish Moudgil, who said he would ensure that the district's sugar factories paid small and marginal farmers on priority.

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