Sachin Pilot targets Raje govt, begins 4-day rally for farmers
BARAN: Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Tuesday kicked off a four-day rally focusing on growing agricultural distress in the state, including demands for a loan waiver and government purchase of crops at minimum support prices.
Pilot started the ‘Kisan Nyay Padyatra’ (Justice for Farmers rally) from Baran. The rally will cover about 100 kilometres on foot before ending at Jhalawar, chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s constituency, later this week.
“Farmers of the state are in distress owing to crop loans and 75 farmers have committed suicide but the state government has no sympathy towards farmers and no government representatives has bothered to meet the families of the deceased,” Pilot told the thousands-strong crowd here.
The 40-year-old leader demanded a crop loan waiver for the state on the lines of similar decisions in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and alleged the chief minister was delaying the announcement to time it with the elections and reap political benefit.
Farmers in Rajasthan have been protesting against the falling crop prices and indifferent government support mechanism and just withdrew a massive demonstration in Sikar two weeks ago after assurance of a loan waiver.
But many experts warn that in the absence of far-reaching government measures, the agricultural distress would continue.
Pilot said the BJP administration had constituted a committee to look into waiving farm loans of only up to ₹50,000, and had packed the panel with ministers and bureaucrats instead of opposition leaders and farmers.
“The Congress will compel the Rajasthan government to waive loans completely through this yatra,” he said.
Pilot said that the BJP-led state government was anti-farmer because it had “failed to provide due prices of farmer’s crop” despite promising 50% additional profit on the cost of cultivation.