KOTTAYAM: Why are farmers not given the Padma awards? the Karshaka Sanghatana Aikyavedi has asked.
“While the nation honours many with various civilian awards for their excellence, sidelining the farmers is highly objectionable,” Aikyavedi state general secretary Jose Chemperi told reporters here on Thursday.
“When 82 percent of the country’s population were farmers, one wonders why the Padma awardees were always from the rest 18 percent.
“The farmers who have proved themselves with innovative practices and adaptability should be honoured and thereby confidence must be instilled among the rural masses,” he said.
Chemperi said the Prime Minister himself had admitted that India was spared from the economic slowdown owing to the contributions and financial grit of the agricultural sector.
It is the farmers’ output which feeds 130 crore Indians. A public debate on the neglect towards farmers should be started, he said.
