Wage a united fight for a better deal, Rakesh Tikait exhorts AP farmers
VIJAYAWADA: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait called upon the farming community to unitedly fight to achieve legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.
Addressing the Rythu Garjana programme organised by the Andhra Pradesh Farmers Unions Coordination Forum, under chairmanship of former Agriculture minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao on Sunday, he said the support of Andhra Pradesh farmers to the farmers’ protests in Delhi was most noteworthy.
“The incumbent government has done grave injustice to farmers by not keeping its promises. Now, it is once again conspiring against the farmers by phasing out diesel run equipment over a period of 10 years,” he said.
Sobhanadreeswara Rao said what the BJP government at the Centre did was a betrayal of farmers. “Not a single assurance given to farmers has been implemented. It is high time to fight against the anti-farmer policies of the Centre,” he stressed.
On the occasion, a book titled ‘Modi Rule only for corporates, not for commoners’ penned by Sobhanadreeswara Rao was released by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Venkate Gopala Gowda. Justice Gopala Gowda said the Modi rule had allowed corporates to rob 65% of the commoners’ efforts.
He found fault with the Modi government for neglecting the welfare of the farming community. He bemoaned the meagre allocation in the budget to agriculture and allied sectors. Farmer leaders Ravula Venkaiah, P Madhu and others also spoke.