Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Tehreek (JKKT) today held a protest demonstration in press enclave Srinagar against the distress of Kisans. Kisans across the valley participated in the protest demonstration demanding waiver on all agricultural loans including KCC and implementation of crop insurance scheme.Addressing the demonstration, General Secretary Kisan Tehreek G.N.Malik said that the core sectors of our economy i.e agriculture, horticulture and livestock have totally been neglected by the successive governments so far. Despite the fact that ours is an agricultural state and major chunk of population is dependent on this sector. The state being vulnerable to natural calamities is in dire need of crop insurance schemes to provide respite to the calamity affected kisan, which have not been incorporated, indicating the insensitiveness of the government. More-so the farmers and growers are also subjected to losses due to substandard and spurious pesticides and no attention has been paid to cope this menace by establishing of testing laboratories at District levels.
Stating that suicides of farmers across the country is a visible manifestation of the crisis of livelihoods Malik said that it is also a reflection of the decline in public investment in agriculture, slow growth of agricultural output, adverse terms of trade and decline in the share of cultivators in the value addition. Seven years have passed since the submission of M.S Swaminathan recommendations regarding providing of minimum support price, the government has not yet implemented them instead has diverted huge agriculture credit towards the agro corporates, made cuts in fertilizer subsidy at a time when there is a manifold rise in prices of all inputs that has further led farmers to enter a new debt cycle.Besides waiving off KCC loans, implementation of recommendations of National Commission for Farmers/Crop insurance scheme, the tehreek also demanded restoration of subsidies, expansion of public procurement system and creation of calamity funds to assist farmers affected by crop losses. (KNS)