The proposed move to release government to private parties in Karnataka has come under flak from various quarters, including farmers and activists who staged a demonstration in Mysuru on February 2.
A cabinet sub-committee has been constituted to work out a way to release patches of lands – held as gomala, gayarana, soppinabetta, hallubanni, etc – to private parties and institutions. The move has been described as disastrous from both the social and environmental point of view.
A retired senior official of the Forest Department said this will liquidate every patch of land in the government domain. Activists said that poor people and landless persons are dependent on these patches of land either for grazing their livestock or had taken up cultivation since generations.
The Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha said lakhs of people are dependent on these patches of land spread all over the State. The government’s move to enable private players to gain control over them would amount to targeting the economically weaker section of the population.
The Sangha said though ownership is vested with the government, landless farmers have been tilling these lands for generations, which has ensured food security for them. But the proposed move to enable private players to acquire these patches of land would displace lakhs of farmers.
The Sangha called for abrogation of the cabinet sub-committee constituted for the purpose and flayed the Government for its ‘anti-poor’ and ‘anti-Dalit’ policies.
The activists led by Sangha general secretary Jagadish Surya condemned the Union Budget, which was tabled on February 1, which they described as ’anti-farmer’ and ‘anti-poor’. The budget provides no relief to farmers reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic, and instead allocation has been reduced under various sub-heads related to agricultural sector.
According to the Sangha, the government is making tall claims over allocation of ₹2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP. But this is less than what was allotted in the previous year’s budget wherein ₹2.42 lakh crore was allotted
It said the budgetary allocation for rural development was down from 5.59% to 5.23% of the total budgetary provision, which, the Sangha said, underlined the pro-corporate bias of the government and expressed concern that the budget will continue to increase the divide between the rich and the poor.
