In tune with the Congress’s resolve to target the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre for its alleged failure to conjure up acchhe din for all and, particularly, the agriculturists, Congress national spokesperson and former Union Minister Jitin Prasad said here on Friday that the Modi Government is out and out anti-farmer.
“The laws being drawn by the Union Government has unveiled its real face that is hostile to the farmers. The people are no longer inclined to gulp the sweet-sounding platitudes that the Union Government dangles to beguile them,” the Congress leader said. Notably, All India Congress Committee (AICC) has decided to hold over 100 Press conferences in major cities across the country to expose the Modi Government’s one-year tenure that is being dubbed as prone to appease capitalists and dumping the common man. Prasad addressed the media along with State Congress President Kishore Upadhyay and State party spokesperson Anshul Srikunj here on Friday. Affirming that 67 per cent of the people of the country are farmers, Prasad that the minimum support price fixed for the grains are inadequate and less as compared to the figure the UPA Government had announced.
“Take for instance the case of cotton. The minimum support price announced by UPA Government during 2013-14 was Rs3,700 that was hiked from the previous Rs1,700. Ridiculously, the Modi Government hiked it by Rs50 during 2014-15, from Rs3,700 to Rs3,750. There are instances galore to buttress the point that the present Government is callous to the plight of the farmers,” Prasad said.
land Acquisition Bill and the quantum of compensation announced to the farmers affected by the unseasonal rains has left none in doubt how anti-farmer the Government is, he said, adding that the farmers keep on committing suicides with the Government remaining cold to their predicament. Providing statistics, the former Union minister said the area under cultivation has gone down by 33.22 lakh hectares in 2014-15. “Total grain output is all set to decline from 2,650 metric tonnes in 2013-14 to 2,500 lakh metric tonnes in 2014-15 as a result of the Centre’s disastrous agricultural policy,” he said. He also launched a scathing attack on the Government on the front of minority development. “They are feeling insecure with churches being torched across the country. They are being attacked and raped with the perpetrators of such crimes roaming around scot free,” he said.
Kishore Upadhyay demanded special category status being restored to Uttarakhand. “If this happens 90 per cent of grants for the projects would have to be borne Central Government,” he added.