Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda has accused the BJP of not fulfilling any of the promises made to farm unions when the year-long famers agitation in 2020-21 was called off.
These promises include a legal guarantee for MSP. He also flagged a news report on the Union Agriculture Ministry surrendering Rs one lakh crores in budgeted funds over the last five years.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi, Mr. Hooda, said the budget allocation for agriculture over the last four years had come down from 4.4 percent of total spending to just 2.5 percent now.
Budget slashed
“Not only has the BJP government consistently reduced the budget allocation for the agriculture sector, but even that small, budgeted amount was not spent fully,” he said. He accused the government of under utilising funds to make further provisions for waiver of debts owed by big corporate houses.
“The BJP government has already waived Rs 14.5 lakh crores in loans owed by big industrial houses even as farmers struggle to repay small sums that they borrowed. Agricultural debt increased by 60 percent during the first five years of the Modi regime,” Mr. Hooda added. The relevant statistics for the remaining period has deliberately been concealed, he said.
He said the Modi government was unabashedly anti-farmer. It had backed out of all the promises it had made to agitating farmers two years ago before they withdrew their agitation. He said, neither had MSP been fixed for all crops nor was there any legal guarantee provided. The farm unions, Mr. Hooda, said are planning to hit the streets again in February, against the government.
Reneged on promises
“The government is yet to withdraw cases against farmers filed during the agitation and it has not provided compensation to families of 750 farmers who lost their lives during the agitation,” he said. The government, he said, has failed to take any action against union minister Ajay Kumar Teni, whose son ran over protesting farmers, killing four of them.
Comparing the Congress led UPA government, and the BJP led NDA government, he said, during the ten years of the UPA there was a 119 percent increase in the MSP of wheat, during the ten years of NDA regime, it rose only 47 percent.
Similarly, for paddy, during ten years of the UPA, the MSP was increased by 134 percent, while during the ten years of NDA it rose by a mere 50 percent.
