BJP warns of agitation over betrayal of 'Aam Admi'

Lucknow, Dec 24 (UNI) Accusing the Congress led 'rag-tag' UPA coalition at the Centre of turning a blind eye to the problems of the common man, the BJP today served notice to the government to be ready to face a nationwide agitation for repeated betrayal of 'Aam Admi and farmers'.

In the resolution moved on the final day of the three-day BJP conclave, the party said while the sensex in Mumbai Stock Exchange crossed 13,500 mark, the government was turning a blind eye to the ever rising farmer's suicide index.

The Prime Minister's trumpeted debt relief package for the farmers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra had proved to be a failure as the deaths of indebted farmers continued to rise even after the Prime Minister's visit. ''This has happened because the UPA government has refused to address the root of the problem with a sense of priority,''said the resolution which was moved by senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu.

Low agricultural productivity, lack of irrigation facilities, growing gap between input and output costs, lack of access to science and technology inputs, near-collapse of the institutionalised credit mechanis for small and medium farmers, poor marketing of agriculture produce, poor implementation of crop insurance were some of the shortcomings which came under sharp attack from the BJP in its resolution.

''Suicide by distressed farmers, especially in the Congress-ruled states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab is the most shocking manifestation of the deepening agrarian crisis,'' the resolution said.

The BJP was particularly harsh on the neglect of the development of rural infrastructure which acording to the pary was best exemplified by the UPA's sidelining of the previous Vajpayee government's ambitious programme of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.''The NDA government had aimed to connect every village in the country with a population of 1000 and more with good all-weather roads but the target is nowhere near achievement,''BJP pointed out.

Charging UPA with abandoning the home -grown food security, based on adequate, affordable, nutritious and balanced food for every Indian citizen, the BJP said the recommendation of National Commission on Farmers headed by Dr M S Swaminathan was ignored by the present ruling dispensation at the Centre.

The Commission had recognised that this need should be met by increased production by Indian farmers, made possible by increased agricultural productivity and remunerative prices for agriculture produce but the case was entirely opposite, the BJP said.''Wheat production is being deliberately reduced every year with 206 lakh MT to just 92 lakh MT in 2006,''the BJP charged.

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