Nc hits out at govt for failing to alleviate farmers’ sufferings

National Conference on Saturday said J&K government has failed to alleviate sufferings of farmers and revive the agrarian economy undergoing distress due to post August measures,

subsequent weather vagaries and COVID19 lockdown. In a statement, the party MPs Muhammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi said the present agrarian crisis was deep-rooted and widespread due to

the accumulation of distress over the last four years. While expressing concern over the dismal state of agriculture and its allied activities in Kashmir, they said 2014 floods, tumultuous

circumstances of 2016, post August clampdown, weather vagaries, and successive COVID19 induced lockdown were the reasons why Kashmir’s agriculture sector now finds itself in unprecedented

crisis. “Far from coming to the rescue of farmers, the J&K administration has added to the woes of farmers. What justifies to be called as a brazen, dimwitted move, the government

ordered the closure of plant protection stores, sub-sale centers/seasonal seed outlets at different locations across the Kashmir,” they said. They said the “imprudent measure” have caused

great inconvenience to farmers who used to purchase agricultural implements, fertilizers, seeds and other farming merchandise under these designated sale centers.  “The idea of having such

sale centers in villages and far-flung towns was necessitated by the arduous topography of Kashmir.  Having such sale centers in villages saved money and precious time of farmers, who

otherwise had to flock to towns or Srinagar city to purchase all the merchandise,” said the Mps. They said the move had a chilling effect on ongoing agricultural activities because people

were not able to throng to cities and towns to buy agricultural requirements because of COVID19. “The measure reveals how naïve and nonchalant the incumbent government is about the existent

predicaments of people, particularly farmers. Contrarily, the government should have lent more support to farmers by providing more facilities at such sale centers, unexpectedly it chose

otherwise,” they said.  They said there has been no headway in providing succor to debt-ridden farmers as well. “Ideally the interest of KCC loan should have been waived off keeping in view

the impoverishment of farmers due to vagaries of weather resulting in crop destruction, and helplessness of the farmers to transport their produce to national Mandis on the account of post

August clamp down and subsequent COVID19 crises. If farmers are the backbone of the economy, then the present government has taken upon itself to break it down,” the MPs said.