Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Dec 24: In-charge minister of the district, Dr Jayamala, said that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the state has been moving on right direction in warding off minor hiccups it has been facing, and moving towards waiving of farm loans in a phased manner.
She was speaking after inaugurating a programme organized at Atal Bihari Vajpayee hall of the deputy commissioner's office here on Sunday October 23 to celebrate International Farmers Day and farmers mass contact meeting.
"The government has already issued orders to waive loans availed by farmers from a agricultural cooperative credit societies and nationalized banks up to a limit of two lac rupees. Because of certain technical problems its implementation has been delayed, and we will address them soon and waive farm loans in phases, she asserted.
She said that when Manmohan Singh was heading the UPA government at the centre in the past, the then government had waived farm loans amounting to Rs 70,000 crore in order to instill a sense of confidence among farmers. "Likewise, Siddaramaiah-led government had waived farmers loans totalling to Rs 8,000 crore. The current government too is doing the needful to help farmers," she added.
She noted that the problems faced by farmers have grown into a gigantic problem, addressing which has become a daunting task. "When problems arise, we should not point fingers at others. When natural disasters happen, we cannot point at the nature. When farmers are facing problems, state and central governments cannot shift blame on
each other. All the governments should think of solving this problem apolitically," she felt.
Jayamala said that the farmers worship nature and they are in direct contact with it. "They serve nature. We should celebrate Farmers Day as our own day. People should celebrate this day in future in a meaningful manner by lending support to the struggle of farmers. By addressing their problems in stages, we should give them proper representation in all fields," she stated. She also called upon farmer leaders to ensure that programmes of the government meant for farmers welfare reach the needy. Hailing farmers for protecting nature, she said that their services are invaluable.
MLA,K Raghupati Bhat, who presided over the programme, noted that agriculture and horticulture have been lagging behind in this district, as farmers have a feeling that these a activities are not remunerative. He said that problems faced by farmers here like menace of wild animals, water from Varahi river etc need to be addressed soon and specific farmer-friendly programmes need to be framed for the district.
Shambhu Shankar Rao, who bagged energing Krishi Pandit (agricultural scholar) award for 2016-17, Shabareesh Suvarna and Rajesh Poojary, who got state level emerging best agriculturist award for 2017-18, district level prize winners in paddy crop contest, best group awardee under 'Atma' scheme, district level best farmer award, and taluk level best farmer awards were handed over and winners were felicitated.
Zilla panchayat president, Dinakar Babu, zilla panchayat member, Janardana Tonse, Uday Kotian, Mairmady Sudhakar Shetty, deputy commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis, zilla panchayat chief executive officer, Sindhu B Roopesh, Kundapur sub-divisional officer, Bhoobalan, additional deputy commissioner, Vidyakumar, Kundapur deputy conservator of forests, Prabhakaran, Ganesh Bhat of wildlife division and others were present.
Joint director in agricultural department, Kempe Gowda, welcomed. Deputy director, Chandrashekhar Naik, proposed vote of thanks. Assistant director,Mohan Raj, presented the programme.