The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s Kisan and Khet Mazdoor Congress has given a 10-day deadline to the Centre to concede its demands for waiver of all crop loans along with interest, scientific Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural crops and early solution to the Mahadayi water dispute. Otherwise, it has threatened to launch a State-wide agitation besides taking out a “Parliament Chalo” demonstration.
Kisan and Khet Mazdoor State president Sachin Miga told reporters here on Thursday that the first phase of the agitation would be launched at district centres on June 18, followed by a State-level rally in Bengaluru on July 2. Thereafter, the agitation would shift to Jantar Mantar at New Delhi if the Centre failed to positively respond to the demands.
He said the agitation in the State was being launched to draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and MPs from the State to the continued exploitation of farmers, denial of due succour to the debt-ridden growers and their water needs.
Mr. Miga alleged that the Centre had been taking anti-farmer decisions, one of which was taking a backward step on fixing MSP for agricultural crops. The preceding Congress-led UPA government ensured that the MSP was increased by 16 per cent to 18 per cent, considering the ever increasing cost of cultivation. However, the current government had brought it to a meagre 4.8 per cent this year at a time when the farmers were badly hit by two consecutive spells of drought. More than 1,350 debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in Karnataka over the past two years.
Substantiating his stand on the unscientific pricing mechanism, he said the Centre had assessed the cost of cultivation of every one quintal of ragi at Rs. 2,250, while the MSP for the crop was fixed at Rs.1,725, which was incomprehensible and unjust. The Centre, on May 16, filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that it was not possible to fix MSP with 50 per cent profit. “This was reflective of the Centre’s attitude towards farmers.”
He said the Kisan Congress had recently submitted a proposal to share the burden of crop loan waiver of 33 per cent between the State and Union governments, as the farmers were willing to pay the remaining component. He added that the State government had already announced waiver of interest on loans obtained from cooperative institutions.
On the Mahadayi dispute, he said the Kisan committee members would meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to evolve consensus among the party units in Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, as suggested by the Prime Minister to initiate the process of an early out-of-court solution to the protracted row between these riparian States.
District president of the kisan unit Ashok Padewar, district Congress (Rural) president Vinay Navalgatti and other office-bearers were present.
