Paddy farmers in Palakkad were disheartened by the Budget presented by Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal. The Budget dampened their expectations that there would be budgetary allocation for paddy procurement.
The Budget did not say anything about the cash the government owes to the farmers for the paddy procured from them. Although they expected that there would be some solace for them by way of an increase in the paddy procurement price, it did not take place.
The government, according to farmers, ignored most memorandums submitted by them. Even the memorandums sent by MLAs of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) were not considered, they alleged.
Karshaka Congress State secretary G. Sivarajan said that the Budget was extremely disappointing for the farmers. “Paddy sector was totally neglected. The government did not even bother to check how the farmers are surviving. Already reeling under a drastic climate change, the farmers got a blow from the Budget,” he said.
Shafi Parambil, MLA, said that the Budget failed the farmers yet again by staying away from announcing any agriculture package. “Failure to increase the paddy procurement price was a major injustice to the farmers,” he said.
The Government Medical College, Palakkad, launched by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government with the SC/ST funds too did not get any major allocation. The fund announced in the Budget for the medical college was from the SC/ST pool, and that too much less than that of the previous year.
