The Federation of Farmers’ Association of Karnataka led by Kurubur Shanthakumar will be holding a demonstration in Freedom Park in Bengaluru on May 14 to highlight the gross injustice meted out to a large number of farmers in the recent distribution of drought relief by the State government.
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday, Mr. Shanthakumar said the State government had distributed compensation to only 27 lakh farmers out of the 70 lakh farmers in the State even though the government had declared drought across 224 taluks in the State.
More than 40 lakh farmers had not received any compensation even though they had lost their crops. Even among the farmers, who had received relief from the government, barely ₹500 or ₹600 had been paid to many of them even though the government had promised a compensation of ₹2,000 to each farmer.
In many instances, the officials had claimed that the extent of crop loss for a farmer was only 10 guntas even when the crop on three acres had been damaged, he rued while pointing out that National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) norms stipulate that relief can be paid upto a maximum of two hectares.
He said the Federation, after holding a symbolic dharna in Freedom Park on May 14, will seek an appointment with either Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to set right the anomalies in the distribution of drought relief.
He said an appeal will be made to the government to conduct a review of the crop damage suffered by the farmers and ensure proper distribution of relief from the drought relief announced by the Centre recently.
As NDRF norms say that a maximum of ₹ 13,500 per hectare can be paid to a farmer subject to a maximum of two hectares, the farmers suffering crop loss in the drought were eligible upto ₹ 27,000, he claimed.
Mr. Shanthakumar also referred to the loss of crops in the recent rains accompanied by strong winds in the region and said banana and vegetable crops on several acres of land had been damaged. The officials should immediately estimate the loss and pay them relief, besides waiving off their loans.
Mr. Shantakumar, who also heads the Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association, even brought up the ₹1,500 crores due to the sugarcane farmers from the sugar factories across the State. He urged the government to bring pressure on the sugar factories to not only clear their dues, but also pay the additional ₹ 150 announced by the government per tonne last year.
Poll affidavits
Mr. Shanthakumar also alleged that a large number of candidates contesting the elections were giving false information relating to their financial assets and criminal antecedents.
Many candidates were “under valuing” their properties and giving wrong information about the pending criminal cases against them. Hence, a Commission headed by a Supreme Court judge should be appointed to probe the matter and take action against the wrong-doers, he said.
