Pune: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that the Centre’s apathy towards the agriculture sector has resulted in the slowdown afflicting the country’s growth.
“It is high time that politicians changed their focus and addressed the plight of farmers rather than those to be fed...the consumer will survive only if the farmer does,” Mr. Pawar said at Akluj in Solapur district.
The Centre can generate funds of ₹80,000 crore (recapitalisation bonds) for strengthening ailing public sector banks, but it is cash-strapped when it comes to bailing out farmer cooperatives, said the former Union Minister of Agriculture.
“Some claim pains in the stomach when there is a talk about total loan waiver…but pains or not, the burden of debt must be removed from the farmer’s shoulders, and it is the responsibility of the Centre and the State to see to it,” he said.
Mr. Pawar also said the State government had fooled farmers with its lip service on the loan waiver promise.
The NCP leader said disastrous implementation of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax was worrisome and adversely impacted agriculture. “It is imperative for the Congress and the NCP to join hands once more to defeat the BJP,” he said.
