JORHAT, Oct 31 � Alleging lack of will on the part of the State Government to inspire the hardworking-farmers across the State, the national secretary of the BJP�s Kisan Morcha, Palit Bora on Thursday said that they have demanded action from the Central Government in providing the required government assistance to the deprived people, who have been �practising agriculture genuinely� with minimum amenities of their own.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Club here, Bora said that he has placed before the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, various problems faced by the farmers of the State, while inviting the minister for a visit to the State.
�We met hundreds of farmers in several areas in the State, who have not got government�s assistance. How can the dream of agricultural development turn into a reality if such deprivation continues, even after the presence of several developmental schemes?, � Bora asked.
According to him, farmers do not have permanent land patta over their 17 lakh hectares of agricultural land and therefore all the owners of such land have been deprived of government�s assistance like agricultural loans, tractors, high-yielding seeds and many others which are provided under several agricultural schemes.
He said that the Government must issue permanent land pattas to all the dwellers in the State who have been engaged in agriculture at least for three generations, on those lands.
Criticising the conversion of 32,791 bighas of agricultural land to commercial land by the State Government during the period 2001-2013, he said that State will neither be able to inspire the young generation for farming, nor will it generate growth in the future, if the process is allowed to be continued.
�Besides, several scams in the State Agriculture department have paralysed the entire process of development. We request the Union Minister to order probes into the cases of corruption in the department,� said the Kisan Morcha�s national secretary.
