Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the cost of fertilizers maintained at the present level and additional cost, if any, be absorbed by the Centre.
In a letter to Modi, Rao said, "On behalf of crores of farmers, I request Government of India to ensure that the cost of fertilizers is maintained at the present levels and additional cost if any to be absorbed by the Government of India so that farmers are not burdened."
He said that certain decisions taken by the Central Government would adversely affect the farming community in the country, especially Telangana.
The Telangana Chief Minister further reminded that the Central Government in February 2016 promised that it will double the farmer's income in 6 years by 2022.
"In February 2016, GoI had announced that it will double the farmer's income in 6 years by 2022. Despite the passage of over 5 years, no specific or structured programme has been initiated towards this direction. Contrary to your policy of doubling of farmer's income, to the dismay of one and all input costs are doubled in last five years and the income of the farming community is declined, causing distress to farmers," he said.
He further alleged that the Government of India has turned a blind eye to the increasing prices of fertilizers in the last six years while encouraging states to take up campaigns to reduce Urea and DAP consumption. "It is sad to note that the prices of two most consumed fertilizers 28.28.0 and MoP (Muriate of Potash) have increased by more than 50 per cent and 100 per cent respectively in the last 90 days itself," Rao further said.
He further said that the fuel consumption in the agriculture sector has increased manifold due to the promotion of farm mechanization by the States.
"Even in the case of petrol/diesel prices, indiscriminate imposition of Cess across the board despite no increase in import price of crude oil has added great distress to the farmers. Due to faulty policies of the Government of India in both the cases of petrol/diesel pricing and fertilizers pricing the farmers are bearing the brunt," he added.
He pointed out that though Telangana State Legislature passed a unanimous resolution to integrate MGNREGA with agriculture activity so that labour cost, is partially borne by the governments along with farmers, there has been no response from the Central government.
"Similarly, while accepting Prof MS Swaminathan headed National Commission on Farmers' recommendations to peg Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce at 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production, essential costs of farm rentals and cost of fixed capital assets were deliberately excluded while calculating cost of the crop to farmers. Hence the claim that MSP is pegged at 150 per cent of the costs of the crop is misleading," said the Chief Minister.
Apart from announcing MSP and procuring small quantities of crops, the Government of India has no reliable mechanism of ensuring price guarantees to the farmers for their crops, he said.
Rao further said that it is also noticed that under the guise of pegging FAQ standards at global levels, farmers are denied MSP prices and compelled to sell at lower prices thereby making agriculture non-remunerative
"These policies coupled with the threat of proposed reforms in the agriculture electricity distribution sector by fixing power consumption meters are causing a great deal of anxiety to the hard-working farmers of our country," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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