Farmers body dubs budget as 'anti-farmer'

Chandigarh, Mar 1: The Centre's claims of doubling farmers' income are "hollow" because returns from farming are already in negative, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) said while dubbing the Union Budget as "anti-farmer".

"The Centre talks about doubling farmer's income by 2022. This statement is a total fraud because farmers are already in distress in the wake of negative returns then how can government double their income," BKU (Ugrahan) General Secretary Sukhdev Singh said today.

"To give remunerative returns to farmers, the Centre is required to implement Swaminathan Commission report which ensures 50 per cent profit over and above MSP," he said.

He also demanded that the government should also stress on reducing the input cost of growers which is possible by containing the profit of corporates, engaged in providing farm inputs. BKU also termed the 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced in India as a "trick to takeover" land of small and marginal farmers.

"Foreign companies have big resources and they can takeover the land of growers especially small and marginal ones under the garb of marketing and once they start earning profits, they will throw them out," he alleged. Singh also said that raising credit for farming sector to Rs 9 lakh crore is unlikely to benefit small and marginal growers.

"The actual beneficiaries of bank advances are big, progressive farmers and commission agents who take bulk of loans, depriving small farmers who are in real need," he said.

PTI