‘Modi hoodwinked farmers over doubling income’

Panaji:

Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi grabbed power by giving false promises of making farmers income double, Congress on Thursday said that it will give priority bringing farming activities in profit by excluding farmers from the ambit of GST.

National Coordinator AICC (Kisan cell) Shailesh Agrawal on Thursday addressed a press conference in Congress House and alleged that the Modi government hoodwinked farmers by giving false promises.

General Secretary Jitendra Gaonkar and North Goa District President Virendra Shirodkar were also present.

“Be it the promise of doubling income or providing insurance cover. BJP has failed in all aspects. They forced farmers to agitate over Minimum Support Price and left them in pain. No government will do such to farmers, on whom we are dependent. But this insensitive government has done it,” Agrawal said.

“They promised farmers of insurance policies, which benefitted to insurance companies and not the farmers. The BJP government didn’t heed to the problems of farmers, had they then farmers would have not agitated. Even during their agitation, they were lathicharged and gave them tremendous pain. This is unacceptable,” he said.

He said that farmers are suffering due to inflation. “Even rate of fertilisers and other equipment’s have skyrocketed. Secondly GST has become headache for them,” Agrawal pointed out.

According to him, the government should have focused on farming activities and should have given all the facilities to them, so the area grows and the country benefits with it.

“We need to bring farming activities to profit, so the farmers are benefited and even our people get the produce at an affordable price. We need to see the balance in it,”he said.

Agrawal said that the ‘Kisan Nyay’ Guarantee of the Congress party has given five guarantees to the farmers, which also includes excluding GST on farming.

“We will give legal status to the minimum support price for farm produce based on the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations. This will help them to get a good rate,” he said.

“We will establish the Agriculture Loan Waiver Commission and will redesign the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna. Schemes should benefit farmers and not the insurance companies,” he said.

He also said that Congress will change the import-export policy, so it could benefit farmers.

“We will form committees in Goa to reach the benefit to the farmers of the state,” he said.

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