Governments have often put restrictions on paddy cultivation whenever reservoirs were dry, but never asked car owners in Bengaluru not to waste water to wash their cars, commented Shivasundar, writer and social activist, here on Monday. He was delivering a talk on farm loan waiver at a seminar organised by Hassan district unit of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.
The anti-farmer policies of governments have ruined the lives of farmers. “In the last 15 years, nearly 4 lakh farmers have committed suicide in the country due to anti-farmer policies of the governments. While businessmen like Mukesh Ambani have the rights to fix price for their products, farmers never enjoyed it. The governments have signed international trade agreements that proved detrimental to the farming community”, he said.
Mr. Shivasundar also took a dig at criticism on farm loan waiver by the business community. In the last 10 years, corporate loans to the tune of ₹ 11 lakh crore had been declared non-performing assets by the Central government. “But, the total farm loan in the entire country is only ₹ 2.5 lakh crore.”
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A majority of the amount that farmers borrow from banks is spent towards the purchase of seeds, fertilizers and essential materials. While fertilizer companies increase their price, farmers never get a good price for their products,” he lamented.
KRRS general secretary Badagalapura Nagendra, KRRS district president Kottur Srinivas and others were present.