AICC PLENARY

Cong resolution promises farmer-centric paradigm shift in agriculture

rahul-aicc Rahul Gandhi releasing a set of Congress publications at the opening session of AICC Plenary in New Delhi | Arvind Jain

In a clear indication that the Congress views agrarian crisis and unemployment as the two most important issues on which to hinge its campaign against the Narendra Modi government and the BJP in the run up to Lok Sabha polls, the party brought in a separate resolution on ‘Agriculture, Employment and Poverty Alleviation’.

Blaming the BJP for farmers’ problems, the resolution said the “anti-farmer” mindset of the BJP stands exposed. The agrarian crisis, it said, is “because of flawed and deliberate anti-farmer policies of the present NDA government.”

“The Congress shares the anguish of the farmer for the government’s neglect to the farm sector as MSP is not keeping pace with rising prices. Its policies have led to the farmer being forced to sell below MSP in several parts of the country,” the resolution said.

The resolution – which read like a manifesto made well in advance of the elections – said, the Congress resolves to bring in a farmer-centric paradigm shift in the Indian agriculture and restore profitability.

Among the promises made in the manifesto-like resolution, the Congress said it would bring in a loan waiver scheme for all small and marginal farmers in the country on the pattern of the loan waiver programme of the UPA government in 2009. It said it intends to provide interest free loans to cover input costs to tenant farmers, sharecroppers and small farmers.

It said there would be a review of the method used by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices to determine the Minimum Support Price to farmers, will relook the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna and will set up a permanent Kisan and Krishi Mazdoor Welfare Ayog with Constitutional status to oversee the welfare of farmers and farm workers.

With an eye on Karnataka elections, the resolution said the Congress government in the state has set up a state level Agricultural Prices Commission to ensure remunerative prices to farmers.

On the issue of employment, the resolution claimed that job growth has slowed down to less than half per cent, and said the BJP government has failed to provide the promised two crore jobs every year. The Congress, it said, will take all possible steps for job expansion in the organized and the unorganized sector by boosting domestic consumption, putting back exports on the high growth trajectory and focusing on micro, small and medium enterprises as the engines of growth.

The party also pledged to set up an IT Skill Upgradation Fund, which would allow professionals from the troubled IT industries to upskill to meet the challenges of the future.

“The party believes that for economic growth and job growth to be sustainable, revival of agricultural growth is critical as rural consumption is a key driver for economic and job growth,” it said.

Also promised is a National Poverty Alleviation Fund and imposition of five per cent cess on the incomes of the top one per cent richest Indians, which would be used directly to give education scholarships to the children from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other BPL families.