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Saturday, Sep 22, 2007
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Farmers betrayed by UPA government: BJP

Staff Correspondent

Agrarian crisis is deeper than it appears: Javadekar

Only 26 per cent of total farm credit came from institutions
Farm growth is recording a growth of just
2 per cent

BHOPAL: The national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party here on Friday passed a resolution on the “betrayal of farmers, poor and labourers,” by the United Progressive Alliance government. It alleged that the Union government was following policies that were “leading to the massacre of common people by terrorists and rising incidence of suicide by farmers.”

Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that no where else in the world farmers committed suicides in such large numbers as in India. The agrarian crisis was deeper than it appeared. Even the Swaminathan report talked of collapse of agriculture. The remunerative prices or the national support price was the essence of the crisis, which had acquired menacing proportions due to rising input costs due to total lack of control, absence of subsidies and inadequate institutional credit.

Mr. Javadekar said that only 26 per cent of the total farm credit came from institutions and the rest from money lenders. The existing crop loan insurance scheme was only insurance for bankers and not farmers.

The resolution also raised the issue of spurious seeds, poor availability of fertilizers and lack of proper irrigation.

On the projection that the country was witnessing 9 per cent GDP growth, Mr. Javadekar said this was a hollow claim when agricultural production was recording a growth of just 2 per cent. Prices of essential commodities were rising and this did not get reflected by the wholsesale price index. The consumer price index graph was going up and this was a major cause of concern for the BJP.

The resolution said the food grain stocks were full when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in power.

Mr. Javadekar said the national executive also sought a CBI probe into the wheat scam following the decision to import wheat at higher prices. The resolution also criticised the Centre for not taking up the river linking scheme.

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