Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole voiced his concern on Saturday about the distress faced by banana and cotton cultivators and urged the state government to provide immediate relief. Speaking to reporters in Jalgaon, Patole criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of exacerbating the struggles of farmers and unemployed youth.
“The state government is blowing its own trumpet claiming it is giving crop insurance for Re 1. The share of premium being paid by the state and Union governments to insurance firms is also public money,” Patole claimed.
“The government has paid crores of rupees to insurance firms as part of the Pradhan Mantri crop insurance scheme. There is a drought in the state and the government has asked insurance firms to give 25 per cent as compensation for loss of soybean crop but the firms have thrown this request into the dustbin,” he alleged.
Asserting that these firms were not heeding the government, Patole alleged the PM crop insurance scheme was not for farmers but for the benefit of “select friends” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Banana and cotton farmers in Jalgaon are in deep distress. On one hand, banana is not fetching any price in the market and on the other several have faced crop loss due to pest attacks. But the BJP government has ignored these farmers. The Congress will launch protests in every district in the state in the next 15 days to raise farmers’ issues,” Patole said.
Mocking the Centre, Patole said the PM promised to double farm income but only the number of suicides of farmers has doubled. “If farmers get fair prices, they will not commit suicide. Onion prices are down and the Modi government imposed 40 per cent export duty. The government should declare drought in the state,” he said.
Patole said the BJP government was rubbing salt into the wounds of the unemployed youth as a minister has publicly said there is no unemployment. While the youth are struggling to find jobs, the state is becoming a haven for drugs, he said in a reference to narcotics worth several hundred crore rupees being seized and busting of manufacturing units in places like Nashik. The state government must take all efforts to disrupt this drug network, he added.