Citizens’ Research Collective on SEZ

Imtiaz Jaleel

Ahmadnagar, February 9, 2008: The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Ahmadnagar in Maharashtra was marred by farmers protesting and waving black flags at him, demanding a complete waiver of loans.

The farmers were up in arms despite his assurance to announce a major relief package for the whole of Maharashtra, which includes Vidarbha’s debt ridden farmers.

”I am aware of the farmers’ plight in Vidarbha and some other parts of Maharashtra,” said Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister.

And there are reasons why the farmers expressed their displeasure. Out of the Rs 3,500 crore prime minister’s package for farmers, nearly Rs 2,000 crore was already a part of the annual budget for irrigation projects.

Another big issue, while input costs for cotton grew, the government did not fulfill promise of a minimum support price.

The earlier package also had an interest waiver clause, not a debt waiver clause. A reference to which was made earlier by the state chief minister.

”Asking the PM to waive loans,” said Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra.

The gap between promises and implementation continues to be yawning as allegations of farmers being shortchanged persist.

”You’ve had a series of predictions that things were going out of control, yet there was an adamant refusal to act. There were no steps taken when it came to fixing prices, loan waivers or a public provisioning of inputs,” said P Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, Hindu.

Hope, this time the promise won’t remain just a promise.

Source: NDTV.com