Karnataka   

Farmers threaten to launch ‘jail bharo’ campaign

Chitradurga: Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (K.S. Puttannaiah faction) have threatened to hold a “jail bharo” campaign on February 12 in Bangalore if the Government fails to meet their demands.

Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, KRRS State president K.S. Puttannaiah said the sangha had put several demands before Governor Rameshwar Thakur, which included the setting up of a revolving fund for all commercial crops, allocation of one-fourth of budgetary funds for irrigation projects and a minimum support price of Rs. 1,200 for sugarcane.

He said a delegation met the Governor recently to apprise him of the problems of farmers in the State. Mr. Puttannaiah said that to improve the living standards of farmers, an Agriculture Pay Commission should be constituted on the lines of pay commissions for government employees.

“Based on production costs, transportation and marketing costs of every crop, prices should be increased to help farmers,” he said.

Referring to the Union Government’s Vidarbha package, which was meant to provide relief and rehabilitation to distressed farmers, he said the benefits of the scheme had not reached the intended beneficiaries.

The scheme comprised a nine-point solution which included writing off interest on loans taken by farmers and giving financial aid to enable them to create alternative means of livelihood.

Under the scheme, Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts should implement the project under their supervision.

“But neither the administration nor the elected representatives has bothered to ensure its effective implementation,” he alleged.

He said mere announcement of schemes would not do until they were implemented by fixing a timeframe for completion.

With regard to irrigation policies, he said water should be declared a national resource, so as to ensure that it did not become the property of any one State.

About the coming Assembly elections, he said their Sarvodaya Karnataka Party had decided to field at least two candidates in each district.

A final decision in this regard would be taken on February 6, Mr. Puttannaiah added.

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