Kumari Selja, national general secretary of the All India Congress, former Union minister, member of the Congress Working Committee and former state president of the Haryana Congress, said that due to the wrong policies of the BJP-JJP coalition government, the farmers of the state are continuously coming under pressure to go into debt. In order to keep his farm alive, he is forced to repeatedly take out loans from banks. In a single year, the number of farmers taking loans from banks and farming has increased by 5 lakh across the country. This shows that increasing farmers’ income was just a slogan of the BJP.
Selja said that this time 11.49 lakh farmers across the state have taken loan of up to Rs 3 lakh through Kisan credit card for kharif crop while last year only 6.58 lakh farmers took loans this season had recorded. Due to weather-related crop failures, relatively low market prices and rising agricultural costs, there is always a need to take out loans. The former Union minister said that the data on the website of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare shows that farmers of Bhiwani district, the home district of the state agriculture minister, have taken the highest crop loan in the state. This proves that farmers continue to face difficulties in harvesting. After selling their harvest, they don’t even have any money left for fertilizer and seeds.
Selja said that farmers of the state are currently completely trapped in the labyrinth of loans from banks. The amount obtained from the sale of the crop is used to repay the bank loan. In order to sow the next crop, he has to take out another loan from the bank. Due to agricultural losses, he doesn’t even have money for fertilizers and seeds after selling the crops. In order to somehow keep farming alive, he depends on the blessing of the banks. The former Union minister said the BJP’s silence on rising farmers’ debt shows that it has been misleading farmers in the name of increasing income and implementing the Swaminathan Commission report. The promises made during the elections have not yet been kept. Instead of paying attention to the welfare of farmers, three black agrarian laws were passed to take away their land. But now the farmers have understood their trick and will respond to the BJP by losing votes in the coming elections.
Also Read: The national medalist has applied to Home Minister Anil Vij for a sports quota job.
