Continuing his campaign to garner support of farmers and youths during ‘Haq maango abhiyan’, UP Congress president Raj Babbar on Fridaycame across several problems in Agra while the traders community voiced their deep concern over the dying leather industry in the city.
“With no support for export of leather goods or any subsidy on them, the recent demonetisation move has brought the leather industry in Agra on the verge of closure,” member of business community running leather factories in Agra told Babbar.
The traders who joined Raj Babbar’s `Chaupal’ in Agra on Friday explained how cottage industries in the area including makingof leather goods, were slowly closing down. They also charged that Prime Minister Narnendra Modi’s campaign `Make in India’ turned out to be nothing but yet another `jumla’ for the business community. The traders also seemed upset over the introduction of GST.
At teh Chaupal, Babbar told the community members that he had not come there to deliver a speech but to learn about their problems and government apathy so that the Congress could take their demands to the government.
The local traders informed that while the youth had no fresh job opportunity, numeorus persons lost their jobs mainly in the last few months due to the closure of cottage industries.
On their part, farmers raised the issue of not getting even their production cost due to no raise in Minimum Support Price (MSA) and said that they were harassed and forced to commit suicide due to harassment by banks for not being able to repay loans on time.
They also highlighted that prices of urea, pesticides, seed etc, all had skyrocketed in the last few years but the government die not care to nor raise the subsidy nor did they waive off their loans.
The Congress kicked off the campaign for farmers and youth in a desperate bid to strengthen its bases in the state and attack the BJP governments at the Centre and UP. In this connection, Raj Babbar held a chaupal and interacted with the people in Aligarh on Thursday. The Congress campaign is fuelled by the firing at the farmers at Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh) where six were killed.
Babar has asked all district chiefs to be prepared to launch a massive and decisive stir against the Yogi government for its failure to provide benefit to the farmers and the youth.