Siddaramaiah failed to address farmers’ problems – BJP Raita Morcha
Udupi: The BJP Raita Morcha Udupi district staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office Manipal on September 14 against the Congress led state government’s anti-farmer policies.
Addressing the gathering Katapadi Shanker Poojary said that the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government failed to implement pro-framers policies in the state. Siddaramaiah had promised to implement measures for the farmers’ welfare but has failed to convert his words into actions. During the tenure of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, he has presented the first separate agriculture budget for the benefit of farmers.
Karnataka is the first State in the country which presents a separate budget for agriculture, which will help address specific issues concerning the farmers. Our present Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has completely failed to protect the interests of farmers, he added.
He further said that the State government failed to ensure kumki rights to farmers. The Supreme Court has upheld the order of the High Court that the deputy commissioner should be given powers to take a decision on kumki land. The kumki right should be given to the farmers with documents, he demanded.
District BJP president Mattar Rathankar Hegde addressing the gathering said that when the people of the State do not have water to drink where is the question of giving water to Tamil Nadu to carry out agricultural activities. He said that the rains have failed and for the past two years the State is reeling under drought and facing a severe scarcity of drinking water. The SC has modified its September 5 order asking Karnataka to release a reduced amount of 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water per day to Tamil Nadu until September 20 from the earlier 15,000 cusecs a day. He criticised the state government for their irresponsible behaviour over the Cauvery issue. The state government has failed to safeguard the interest of the people in the state on the Cauvery issues, he added.
The Supreme Court should send a team of experts and get a report on the availability of water in the KRS dam before issuing orders on the Cauvery River water-sharing dispute. There is no sufficient water in the KRS dam, so it is impossible to release water to Tamil Nadu. Hence, the court should verify facts before issuing orders. The Karnataka state advocate should also convince the court about the ground realities, but he has failed in this regard, he said.
Later protesters submitted a memorandum to Governor of Karnataka through the deputy commissioner of Udupi district.