New Delhi, July 16
Launching an all-out attack on the Modi government for its “anti-farmer” policies, newly appointed Kisan Congress chief Sukhpal Khaira today lamented that in the light of “dwindling food stocks”, the country was staring at a “severe food crisis”.
Addressing a press conference here at the AICC headquarters, Khaira said the dwindling food stocks in the country were at a 15-year low and at a 50-year low in the per capita terms.
The Kisan Congress chief also reiterated the demand for immediate setting up of a committee to ensure a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) as committed by the government to the farmers’ umbrella body, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), at the time withdrawing the three controversial farm laws.
Khaira, who was holding the press conference with media department head Pawan Khera, also explained as to how the government has slashed wheat allocations to 10 states, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, in the light of fall in wheat crop harvest.
Khaira said while Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal has been desperately urging states to increase paddy production after many years of asking them to reduce paddy acreage, farmers are reeling under fertiliser shortages and ever-increasing fertiliser prices.
“This mismanagement is also accompanied by betrayal and the Modi government is still trying to help its billionaire friends by bringing the discredited farm Bills through the backdoor,” he alleged, adding that it is either “ignoring or subverting” the agreements it reached with the SKM to end the farmers’ movement.
The Kisan Congress chief also reiterated that the party’s farmers’ wing supports the SKM’s decision to launch a protest in 500 districts against the refusal of the BJP government to implement their reasonable demands, including immediate setting up of a government committee on enforcing a legal guarantee for the MSP.
At a time when the NITI Aayog has called for an end to farm procurement, the government has adopted a delaying tactic to fulfil its promise to the farmers’ body on one or the other pretext, he said.
Betrayal by Centre
Mismanagement is also accompanied by betrayal and the Modi government is still trying to help its billionaire friends by bringing the discredited farm Bills through the backdoor. — Sukhpal Khaira, kisan congress chief
Modi government pushing India towards food crisis: Sukhpal Khaira
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