“In the name of food security, the centre is trying to snatch the food of the poor.
The quantity of rice being given to Antyodaya cardholders has come down from 35 to 25 kg. It is regrettable that the price has been raised from Rs 2 a kg to Rs 3,” General Secretary of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha’s state unit G C Bayyareddy said here.
Speaking at a press conference organised at the Patrakartara Bhavana here, he said, “The UPA budget has acted against people’s expectations. A huge number of people in the country are in such a state today, that they have to cut down on their intake of food.”
Rs 500 crore
The General Secretary stated that the cut down in the quantity of rice distributed to BPL cardholders along with the increased price will save a sum of Rs 500 crore to the government.
“The government, instead of increasing the quantity of provisions supplied, it has brought it down and has simultaneously upped the prices,” he alleged.
“In the guise of scrutinising the temporary ration cards, the ration cards belonging to the poor are being cancelled.
The temporary cards should be immediately made permanent,” he demanded.
Increase in wages
While welcoming the government’s decision to increase the wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, from Rs 80 to Rs 100, he demanded that the wages be hiked to Rs 200. He said that the Parliament, and MoS of Railways K H Muniyappa should work towards this.
“Only about 30 per cent of the farmers in the country can get loans. The others have to get loans from money lenders at higher rates of interest. Only huge organisations can get the government loans, while it has become very tough for the smaller farmers to get financial help,” Bayyareddy said.
He also demanded that every bank should give loans to a minimum of 500 farmers at the rate of 4 per cent.
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