Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 23: Former union minister and Congress MP, K H Muniyappa, expressed his dissatisfaction at the way the current spate of farmer suicides I being handled by the state government. He expressed the view that by enhancing the quantum of compensation in case of suicides, the government itself is encouraging more suicides.

Muniyappa's views came into the open at the debate on 'for farmers from farmers' held during the agricultural fair organized at Krishi Vigyana Kendra here on Saturday November 21. Muniyappa made a strong pitch for drafting an integrated agricultural plan to handle the crisis arising out of suicides by farmers. He urged the government to review its scheme in the light of the above observation.

'In the past, the situation was such that any government could not survive without farmers. Now farmers have become dependent on the government. The percentage of farmers in the country has fallen from 75 to 60. Because of unsatisfactory conditions, farmers are migrating to cities. To stop this, the government should implement an integrated agricultural plan," he demanded.

He said that the farmers should have definite idea about how much and what to grow in different seasons, as bumper crops can rob them of good prices. At the same time, he said it is the responsibility of the government to announce support price and to provide good market for the crops grown by farmers.