Demand to withdraw ordinance

MLA K S Puttanaiah said, farmers from the State will be part of the nation-wide protest and also the demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on March 18 to demand withdrawal of the Ordinance on the amended Land Acquisition Act.

Addressing media persons here, on Thursday, he said, a decision to this effect has been taken at the recently-held national-level Kisan Panchayat. “A memorandum has already been submitted to the Union Agriculture Minister, urging him to take steps to withdraw the Ordinance and also to solve the problems facing the farming community,” he said.

“We are not against either development or industrialisation. But, farmers should not be deprived of their lands. The Centre should formulate an agriculture policy and frame guidelines to fix scientific price for farm produce. A separate policy should be devised for dry land farming. Measures should be taken to stop migration and suicide of farmers,” he said.

Stating that the Centre should waive of all farm loans, he said, the government should capacitate the farmers to enable loan repayment in future.

Desperate measures

Puttannaiah also said that children of farmers have been forced to do many things, including resorting to flesh trade, for livlihood due to the failure of the governments so far to address their problems.

“Farmers are badly affected due to untimely rains, burgeoning production cost and inadequate price for their produce. They enter a debt trap to meet their expenses and end up either migrating to towns and cities to earn a living and also to repay loans or commit suicide. Those who set out in search of a living end up doing a lot of things, even though their conscience does not approve it. The government projects and schemes have failed to provide jobs to people at their respective village. Use of machinery has become rampant in execution of works,” he said.

HT power line

The government should explore an alternative route for the high-tension power line that is being laid from Mysuru to Kerala through Kodagu district, Puttannaiah said, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar has convened a meeting in Bengaluru on February 2 to discuss the issue. “Leaders of various farmers’ outfits and representatives from Kodagu district will attend the meeting,” he said.