CPI (M) acting State secretary and Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener A. Vijayaraghavan has blamed the Centre of failing in its responsibilities by ignoring the farmers’ welfare.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to create rifts among the agitating farmers in New Delhi, he said such efforts that were being made to scuttle the ongoing protests would turn futile.
He was inaugurating the third day’s stir of the indefinite demonstration being observed by Samyuktha Karshaka Samithi at the Martyrs’ Column, Palayam, in solidarity with the ongoing agitation in the national capital.
Mr. Vijayaraghavan, who is also Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union president, said the contentious farm laws that were passed by the Centre threatened to push the agrarian sector to a massive crisis, one that was unprecedented in independent India.
“Such policies were akin to those that had been adopted by the British colonialists when they provided legal backing for feudal land tenure that paved the way for fiefdom and also destroyed the Indian agriculture sector to shape it in a manner that catered the needs of the British market. Such decisions had then led to an acute food shortage and pushed many to poverty,” he said.
The CPI(M) leader accused the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of playing into the hands of corporate powers, even while neglecting the interests of farmers as well as the common man in the country. No steps were being made to rein in the increasing agricultural costs that has prompted several farmers to avail loans, he alleged.
On the other hand, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the State has bucked the trend by protecting its farmers. “During the last four-and-a-half years, the government has increased returns for farmers, even while achieving success through a 25% hike in cultivation. The State has also been procuring paddy at a rate that is 40% higher than the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Centre. In addition, we are also the first in the country to fix MSP for vegetables,” he said.
