Jairam Ramesh lists major "failures" of BJP govt policies on agriculture

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024 Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh listed out some major failures of the BJP governments policies on agriculture which he described as most harmful and selfevident reported news agency ANIOf all the various failures of the Modi Government the sheer incompetence and maliciousness of the Ministry of Agriculture amp Farmers Welfare is among the most harmful and selfevident the senior Congress leader said in a post on XDescribing the Goods and Services Tax GST to be extortionate Ramesh said that the exorbitant GST rates pose a burden for farmers as it increases the rate of agriculture inputs like tractors and fertilizersThe design of the GST has been completely antifarmer Due to GST nearly every input a farmer requires has gone up in priceunder GST the tax rate on tractors has been increased to 1237 while GST on tractor tyres is at 1837 and spare parts at 2837 Meanwhile fertilizer has been taxed at 5 per cent under GST in addition to high GST on fertilizer inputs like ammonia at 1837 the Congress leader saidRamesh also pointed out that the Narendra Modi government by allowing cheap imports makes exports of agricultural products more difficult for famersThis hurts Indias farmers deeply they are not only not getting fair market prices for their produce but unpredictable export bans mean they cannot plan their crops properly he saidThe senior Congress leader also pointed out that over Rs 1 lakh crore allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been surrendered after nonutilisationRamesh also debunked Prime Minister Narendra Modis promise to double farmers income between 2016 and 2022 saying that to achieve this target farmer incomes would have to grow by over 12 per cent each year for all six yearsas per the latest NSSO SAS report real farm income grew just 2837 per year from 201516 to 201819 the Congress General Secretary pointed outPointing out the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP governments inadequate increases of Minimum Support Price MSP for farmers and nonimplementation of Swaminathan Commission Report Ramesh said While the UPA raised MSP in wheat by 119 per cent and paddy by 13437 the Modi Government has raised it by just 47 per cent and 50 per cent respectivelyOn PM Modis failed attempts at crop diversification Ramesh said that the farm area under paddy has increased by two million hectares since 2014 and the farm area under millets has decreased by three million hectares since 2014Highlighting the countrys dependence on imports for edible oils the senior Congress leader said that though more than 56 per cent of edible oils come from imports since 2014 the production of oilseeds has grown at just 18 per cent per yearElaborating on the rising indebtedness of farmers and farmer suicides Ramesh said First farmer debt has skyrocketed Since 2013 outstanding loans have grown by 58 per cent as per the NSSO Over half of our farmers are in debt Second since 2014 we have seen over 1 lakh farmers die by suicideSpeaking about the Kisaan Nyay guarantees announced by the Congress Ramesh said that his party promises legal guarantee of MSP at Swaminathan formula standing Loan waiver Commission for farmers guaranteed insurance payment within 30 days of crop loss stable importexport policy to benefit farmers and no GST on inputs for farmingMeanwhile Congress leader Manickam Tagore on Tuesday exuded confidence for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024 and said that the INDIA bloc will register victory on 300 seats in the upcoming General polls reported ANIWith inputs from ANI