Budget is populist but does not address the core issues of farmers : Himachal Kisan Sabha

Today the newly elected state government presented its first budget, which appears to be populist in appearance, but as this newly elected government started with the slogan of “system change”, the budget presented according to it shows hollowness. . This budget is completely silent in the direction of improving apple farming, which is called the main economy of the state, and removing it from the crisis looming over apple farming. Along with this, farmers have been treated like discrimination. Neither there is any initiative to provide minimum support price for agriculture-horticulture-vegetables and other farm products, nor are alternative efforts visible at the state government level.

There is no discussion of vegetable-based industries in this budget due to production of 7 lakh metric tonnes of tomatoes and about 80 thousand metric tonnes of garlic alone, out of 16 lakh metric tonnes of vegetables, maximum in the state. Whereas today small and marginal farmers of the state are involved in vegetable farming who have very limited land available. Although there is no provision in this budget for any kind of industries based on horticulture and grain crops, it seems that this government has no plan to make the farmers prosperous. On the other hand, in the name of doubling the income of the farmers, the central government has already opened loot bags for Adani and Ambani and has broken the back of the farmers and agriculture. In such a situation, the farmers are left with no option but to agitate.

Kisan Sabha was expecting to increase the income of the farmers and gardeners, who are the backbone of the state, from this first budget of the government, but today the farmers got nothing but disappointment from this budget. State President of Himachal Kisan Sabha, Dr. Kuldeep Singh Tanwar, State General Secretary Hotam Sankhla and State Finance Secretary Satyawan Pundir have issued a joint statement terming it as a fraud for the farmers while issuing their reaction on the budget. The farmers of the state have been making MIS on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir for apples for a long time. were demanding, on which the silence of the government is surprising.

Kisan Sabha will start agitation on the issues of agriculture and horticulture in the coming time and will try to bring the issues of agriculture in the main stream.