Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha members will organise a Bengaluru Chalo, a protest rally in Bengaluru, on Monday, with some demands, including withdrawal of amendment to the Land Reforms Act, to provide statutory minimum support price for all crops and to bring ragi and jowar under the public distribution system.
Farmers are unhappy with the State Government for failing to withdraw the amendments. Amendments to the Land Reforms Act have adversely affected farmers. Registration charge for sale of agricultural land has jumped to 47% in the last one year, after the changes were made to allow non-farmers to buy land and to remove land ceiling, said a release from KRRS.
Farming is no longer profitable due to rising cost of inputs and also, government policies that deliberately keep farm produce prices under control. The government policy does not guarantee a mandatory MSP to farmers. Small and marginal farmers who own two acres or three acres of land are selling their land. The number of farmers as a percentage of the population has come down. If this continues, the country will suffer from food scarcity and millions of people will be forced to become unskilled labour, he said.
To help farmers fight the debt trap, the State Government should pass a law to guarantee MSP, they said.
Their other demand is to include ragi and jowar in PDS so that farmers get remunerative price.
Successive governments have promised this, but not delivered, they said. Price of inputs have increased and subsidies on fertilizer are being slashed. The State Government is privatising power supply and this will further harm farmers, the release said.
