Union government has no real concern for farmers: Siddaramaiah

NABARD has reduced farm loans by around 58%, says CM

“The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has no real concern for farmers. It only offers lip service to farmers,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Bagalkot on Sunday. He was speaking at the 71st Cooperative Week celebrations.

He said that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had reduced farm loans by around 58%. “This has affected the capabilities of cooperative institutions that routinely lent to farmers. This will cripple farmers who will not be able to invest in farm inputs and impact their output,” he said.

“All of us across party lines have to oppose such injustice. I have written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking them to restore the earlier quantum of loans,’‘ the CM said.

‘Taken over cooperative sector’

He said that the Union government had taken over the cooperative sector, without consulting the states. “The cooperative sector was in the state list. But Amit Shah became the Minister for Cooperation. Has that helped the sector in anyway? No. The Centre has taken over the sector, only to reduce NABARD grants to ₹3,260 crore from ₹5,600 crore in the past. All of us have to oppose this. I urge all senior cooperative leaders to oppose this. I have already written a letter,” the CM said.

He recalled that in 2013, his government waived off ₹8,165 crore in farm loans and that in later years, his government made the payment for waived farm loans in the past. “We increased milk procurement subsidy to ₹5 from ₹3 per litre, enabled free enrolment of members from deprived communities to cooperative societies and merged milk producer unions and milk dairies to ensure better coordination,” he said.

“It was my government that declared Basavanna as the cultural leader of the State. If we are to achieve Basavanna’s dream of an equal society, we need to provide financial independence to the deprived classes and women. One of the ways to do this is to ensure their representation in the cooperative sector. The milk cooperative should increase procurement, improve processing standards and expand the market for milk and milk products. This is the only way to enrich rural cooperatives,” he said.

The CM said he was willing to provide a quota for cooperation and cooperative management graduates during the recruitments to the department of cooperation.

As many as 71 persons were presented with Sahakar Ratna awards.

Minister Shivanand Patil, cooperative sector leaders like G.T. Deve Gowda, MLAs, MLCs and others were present.

Published - November 17, 2024 09:05 pm IST