The farmers’ organisations in Karnataka have demanded the Congress government to repeal the farm laws passed during the previous BJP regime.
During the pre-budget meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Monday, the farmer leaders reminded the chief minister that the Congress party had promised to repeal the “anti-farmer” laws in its 2023 poll manifesto but had not fulfilled them after coming to power.
In 2020, the Yediyurappa government passed the Karnataka Land Reforms (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, removing almost all restrictions on buying farm lands. The amendment to the APMC Act allowed farmers to sell their produce outside the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). The laws, which were passed despite protest by the then opposition Congress, allow non-agriculturists to buy land and also weaken the APMC system respectively, rued the farmers.
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“The CM has assured us that the laws will be repealed in the upcoming Budget session. We also demand for the legal status for the minimum support price (MSP) as recommended by the MS Swaminathan Commission report. Though the chief minister clarified that the state government cannot amend the MSP Act, we want the state to make an appeal to the Centre,” said Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, chief of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene.
Chandrashekhar also expressed concern over vested interest groups spreading rumours about the high cost of implementing the MSP Act.
“There are rumours that the Centre is reluctant to implement the MSP Act as it would require around Rs 26 lakh crore (for procurement and for infrastructure and logistics). But I suspect it is not true as the total purchases across top 10 states would not add up to Rs 2 lakh crore. With the law in place, it would increase to only about Rs 6-10 lakh crore,” explained Chandrashekhar.
The other demands made by the farmers include the completion of long pending irrigation projects like Mahadayi, Mekedatu and Yettinahole in a time-bound manner, enhancing drought relief to Rs 25,000 per acre (for crop loss), balancing the fair and remunerative price (FRP) with state agreed price (SAP) for sugarcane, installation of fair and accurate scales at sugar factories, clearing of pending sugarcane bills by the factories, setting up of a revolving fund of Rs 10,000 crore for farmers’ welfare, abolition of waqf board, regularisation of ‘bagar hukum’ land and granting total farm loan waiver, implementation of livestock insurance with 50:50 cost (premium) sharing, regularisation of illegal irrigation pumpsets, enhancing death compensation to Rs 3 lakh, withdrawal of "false' cases against farmers, housing for farmer families who lost their land to Vani Vilas dam and denotifying the farmlands that were acquired but not utilised.
The farmers have also opposed privatisation of the power sector and the acquisition of fertile farm lands.
Siddaramaiah has reportedly assured the farmers that he would incorporate their suggestions and consider their demands when he tables his 16th state budget on March 7.
