Bharatiya Kisan Manch organising secretary Dinesh Dattatraya Kulkarni on Sunday called for major reforms in the agriculture sector to encourage agro industries and increase land-holding of rural farmers to solve the unemployment problem.
Delivering the keynote address at a meeting organised by Sri Gopalrao Thakur Smaraka Samithi on ‘Agriculture and Grameena Bharat Today: Challenges and Solutions,’ he said during the British rule the rural-based agriculture was slowly damaged to exploit the masses. Before their entry, several businesses used to be dependent on farmers and the rural areas used to be self-sufficient.
Mr. Kulkarni said the Englishmen created forest, police, revenue and other departments to extract money in different forms from the rural farmers. Giving credit to rural farmers, he said the farmers were totally self-reliant due to judicious use of water and involvement of locals in farming operations.
Stating that in 1947 India had produced 33 crore tonne of paddy, he said it increased manifold following ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ movement ushered in by then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and green revolution in 1960s.
Mr. Kulkarni said the government should ensure remunerative price to the farmers, procure their produce at the declared price and develop a marketing system. The demand for loan waiver by the farmers arose following the failure of the powers-that-be to provide remunerative price. “Many problems including unemployment and farmers’ suicide cropped up with agriculture by small land-holding farmers turning unviable. To solve unemployment problem and arrest urban migration, the government should encourage group farming and by cooperatives in rural areas,” he said.
The meeting felicitated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh members Vadlamudi Brahmananda Rao, Pappu Sriram Murthy and Duvvuru Satyanarayana Murthy.
Among others, senior BJP leader P.V. Chalapathi Rao, city president M. Nagendra, former president T. Subbarami Reddy, MLC P.V.N. Madhav, BMS leader M. Jagadeeswara Rao and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh State president G.R. Karunakar were present.
