Submitting a wish list ahead of the State budget, the farmers from Mysuru region want the government to declare the input cost of cultivation as fair and remunerative price in case of sugarcane.
Kurubur Shanthakumar, president, Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association, said here on Friday that the cost of cultivation had escalated but the FAR fixed by the government did not match the actual cost incurred by the farmers. Hence the government should announce measures to benefit the farmers.
He said it was a failure of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in not holding a pre-budget meeting with the farmers to discuss issues related to agriculture. The farmers are in dire straits and the feedback from the community would have helped the government conceive policies to bail them out of the crisis.
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Calling for waiving of cess on diesel used by farmers to run tractors, he said this was one way of reducing the burden on the agricultural community and also help them save input cost. The association sought subsidy at various levels to facilitate farmers expand agricultural activity as in case of fisheries. Mr.Shanthakumar said the government should announce a one-time settlement of all pending agricultural loans and also direct the financial institutions to release loan to the farmers to commence their agricultural activities.
The Association drew attention to the lifelong pension for elected representatives – MLAs and MPs – though they may have been elected for only one term and wanted it (pension) to be abolished.
The elected representatives are supposed to serve the public and hence should not avail themselves of a pension like the salaried class, according to the association which said that its abolition will help save money to the exchequer. This amount could be utilized to shore up facilities in the government hospitals across the State, it added.
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