Stakeholders from Karnataka, including farmers and tribals, have submitted a wish-list to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai seeking funds under specific heads for their collective welfare in the ensuing State Budget.
The Federation of State Farmers’ Associations want crop insurance to be extended to all agricultural produce instead of restricting it to a few crops as at present. It also wanted a statutory guarantee for minimum support price for agricultural crops besides a change in the law governing agricultural loans.
Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the Federation, said loan disbursal should be more liberal in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the amount sanctioned should bebased on the landholding of individual farmers.
Mr. Shanthakumar urged the government to withdraw GST on all agriculture-related equipment, machinery, seeds, pesticide, insecticide, and fertiliser. The fair and remunerative price for sugarcane should be reflective of the cost of cultivation, he said and urged the Government to ensure that farmers receive their share of the revenue accruing from sugarcane by-products.
The Adivasis in Mysuru region had convened their own ‘parliament’ at Hunsur recently where they passed a resolution seeking ₹512 crore in the forthcoming State Budget for rehabilitation of tribal communities.
A memorandum containing the wish-list submitted to the government drew attention to the High Court order on rehabilitation of 3,418 tribal families. The tribals want the State to announce a package under which each family would be allotted 5 acres of land besides ₹15 lakh cash compensation.
The government was urged to earmark 17,090 acres of land for rehabilitation and Adivasis want 32 taluks in 9 districts in the Western Ghats region to be declared as a notified tribal area. This, the tribals said, would be a step forward towards self-governance.
They also want approach roads to 219 tribal haadis, or hamlets, and pointed out that, out of them, 200 hamlets are out of forest land and hence eligible to be declared as revenue villages. In addition, they want the government to provide amenities and construct 4,000 new houses as the existing houses are in a dilapidated condition.
The other demands included establishment of a tribal university to study, document and foster the tribal community and their way of life and culture, shoring up the quality of education imparted in tribal residential schools besides enhancement of pension, encouragement to indigenous and tribal medicinal systems, organising technical training and skill development camps for tribal youths to make them employable.
