Bangalore: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Tuesday gave a categorical assurance to the farming community that his Government was ready to suspend development works in order to allocate the needed funds to take care of their interests.
Referring to farmer suicides, the Chief Minister said the Government was in the process of working out certain long-term measures, including remunerative prices for farm produce, timely availability of farm loans and extending farm insurance across the State and to all agricultural crops. From March till now, 85 farmers have committed suicide in the State owing to various factors including poor remunerative prices for their produce.
In a detailed reply in the Legislative Assembly to the two-day discussion on the serious shortage of chemical fertilizers in the State, Mr. Yeddyurappa refrained from directly blaming the Union Government for the shortage. He said that fertilizer shortage was being reported across the country. In Maharashtra, chemical fertilizers were sold in certain places “under the watchful eyes of the police at police stations. Fertilizer shortage has also been reported from Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka is not the only State facing the problem”.
Soliciting the support of the Opposition parties in finding a lasting solution to the problems faced by farmers, Mr. Yeddyurappa said, “I have taken oath in the name of farmers and there is no question of sacrificing the interests of farmers who provide food to the people. If need be, the Government is ready to set apart Rs. 500 crore straightway to purchase fertilizers. But where are the fertilizers available?”
He said that when the BJP Government took charge in the State on May 30, the fertilizer stocks in the State were already low. As on April 1, 2007, the stock of fertilizers in the State was 31,000 tonnes of DAP, 78,131 tonnes of complex fertilizers and 37,270 tonnes of MOP. The stock as on April 1, 2008 (during President’s rule) was 3,782 tonnes of DAP, 9031 tonnes of complex fertilisers and 12,107 tonnes of MOP. This should explain the precarious situation on the fertilizer front when the new Government took charge, he said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa said there had been no response from the Union Government to the letters regarding the fertilizer crisis written by Governor Rameshwar Thakur and by the new Government. He said, “I am ready to take an all party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and impress upon the Centre that Karnataka requires an adequate supply of chemical fertilizers. I will also hold a meeting with farmer representatives, experts and others and seek a solution to the problem. Within a day after the new Government took charge this crisis started, and I consider it an acid test. I am confident of finding a solution.”
The Chief Minister said that farmer suicides had been going on for over a decade and neither the package announced by the Centre nor by the State Government had helped. In 2006, 4,453 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra, 2,858 in Chhattisgarh, 2,607 in Andhra Pradesh and in 839 in Karnataka. “We have to work together and find a solution. Society also has a role to play in restoring the self-confidence of the farmers,” he added.
Clarification sought
Leader of the Opposition M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who sought clarifications from Mr. Yeddyurappa after his reply to the debate on the fertilizer shortage and suicide by farmers, wanted the judicial inquiry ordered into the police firing in Haveri to also find out why the firing had taken place in violation of the police manual. Compensation should be paid to the families of farmers who committed suicide, he said.
Conceding the demand to withdraw cases filed against farmers during the agitation demanding fertilizers, Mr. Yeddyurappa rejected the other demands.
The Congress members, led by Mr. Kharge, immediately rushed to the well of the House and staged a dharna, raising slogans against the Government.
When requests by Mr. Yeddyurappa and Speaker Jagadish Shettar to allow the House to function failed, the latter adjourned the House till Wednesday.
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