Members of Karnataka State Sugarcane Cultivators’ Association and Federation of Farmers’ Organisations have decided to embark on an a wareness drive in villages urging the voters to question the mainstream political parties on implementation of the long-pending demands of the farmers.
They conducted a meeting at T.Narsipur on Monday and resolved to raise awareness among rural voters of the key issues that are affecting them all and tell them not to get swayed by issues of caste and religion.
Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the sugarcane cultivators association, said on Monday that farmers have released their own manifesto and want the Congress, BJP and JD (S) to incorporate their demands in their respective party’s election manifesto. But not only are the mainstream political parties reluctant but have not committed themselves so far though the elections are drawing near.
‘’As the political parties are indifferent to our demands, an awareness march will be taken out in the villages urging the voters to question the candidates when they canvas for votes’’, said Mr. Shanthakumar.
He said in elections when every vote counts and there are examples of a candidate losing by a single vote and the government collapsing because of one vote, the political parties should not take the farmers’ demands lightly.
The farmers reiterated some of their demands that included extension of minimum support price to all agricultural crops besides making it mandatory and enforceable by law, implementation of Dr.Swaminathan Committee report on minimum support price for agricultural crops; announcing minimum income for farmers to ensure social security to them; agricultural loan waiver; reforms in agricultural loan policies; announcement of interest-free loan for farmers etc.
‘’Farmers are feeding 140 crore people of the country and yet their living condition has not improved and it was imperative for political parties to incorporate our demands’’, Mr.Shanthakumar added. He said the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes has been eased and this would be detrimental to the food security of the country. It was important to make agriculture profitable so that rural-urban migration was stemmed and reversed and the new generation of youth do not abandon agriculture.
The meeting was attended by senior farmer leaders including Kurubur Siddesh, Attahalli Devaraj, K.Shankar, Bardanpura Nagaraj and others.
