NC rues Govt’s indifference towards farmer’s distress, asks govt to look for measures to solve ongoing impasse

Srinagar/Jan,24 : National Conference on Sunday expressed dismay over the plight of protesting farmers across the country and urged the central government to shun insensitiveness and work out a feasible solution to solve the impasse without delay. The ongoing country wide protest of farmers across the country has revealed the aversion of the ruling BJP for the farmers and working classes, said Party’s Additional Spokesperson Sarah Hayat Shah while urging the government to take urgent and genuine steps to redress the impasse.
While impressing upon the government to roll back the farm laws, she said the farmers are the backbone of the country and all possible steps should be taken to allay their fears. “So far the farmers have been only cheated by the government in the name of doubling their incomes and but in reality nothing significant was done to improve their earnings since 2015. It goes without saying that the new agriculture laws in their present shape will create a monopoly of few corporate houses. In a democratic country like India, farmers should have the choice to sell their product wherever they want. Moreover, there are farm subsidies everywhere in the west also, therefore there is no reason for the government to do away with MSP,” she said.
She said the situation of farmers and orchardists in Kashmir is no different. “Our local farmers continue to suffer from absence of better storage provisions, pesticide and soil testing labs, bad connectivity and other farm requirements including quality seed, irrigation, fertilizer, farm machinery, and research and extension. The insensitive approach of the incumbent J&K administration towards the plight farmers and orchardists has further compounded their problems. The recurring failure of the local administration to cope up with the damages post snowfall and other weather vagaries post 2015 explains it. The recent snowfall that caused a deadly blow to agriculture and horticulture sectors of the valley has unfortunately been left unattended to by the concerned authorities. “The quantum of relief is very less as compared to the losses incurred by our farmers and orchardists. What compounds the miseries of famers and orchardists is the delayed recompose for their losses; the process has been marred by red tapism,” she said.