Pics: Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (RS/CN)
Mangalore, Mar 30: The Nagarika Seva Trust, Guruvayanakere, and Prajadhikara Vedike have urged the candidates aspiring for the Lok Sabha constituency to fulfill a farmer-friendly agenda.
They put forth a 22-point agenda before the leaders of various political parties at a face-to-face programme organized by the Trust here on Sunday March 29 at NGO Hall.
G Somanatha Nayak, president of the trust, said that the past members of Parliament had failed to constitute a farmer-friendly administration though some of them were from the farming community.
He said that they had for various reasons ruled out or neglected the trust’s demands. Nayak said that hence, the members from the trust will elect only the one who gives them cent percent assurance of fulfilling their agenda.
Balaraj Rai, district president, Janata Dal (S), said that his party is always pro-farmer and it has not supported the acquisition of land for the SEZ. He added that the party had not participated in the protests on the road because there was no unanimity of opinion between the protesting group and the losers of land.
Ratnakar Nayak, BJP spokesperson, said “The BJP government in the state is pro-farmer. The party has kept its main agenda as rural development with the aim of providing more funds to agriculture”.
Shahul Hameed, zilla panchayat member from the Congress said that his party was pro- farmer right from the start and some of the essential developments in agriculture and rural areas had been completed.
The 22-point agenda includes the demand for formation of a rule by the central government to protect the rights of farmers, canceling of the seed act, honourary pay to farmers and the like.
Prof Varadesh Hiregange conducted the programme and read out the 22-point agenda and said that India was confronted with the bad effects of globalization as the farmers and the field of agriculture had been thrown to the streets in the name of industrialization.
Members and trustees from Nagarika Seva Trust, Prajadikara Vedike, and other organizations were present.