Accord industry status to agriculture: Sachin Pilot

JAIPUR: Expressing concern over farmers' deaths due to crop failure, caused by natural disasters, in the last one year, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot today demanded that the Raje government accord "industry" status to agriculture so that it could avail facilities and benefits on a par with an industry.

Rajasthan should show the way to the entire country by declaring "agriculture" as an industry and provide benefits and tax concessions to poor farmers of the state, he told reporters here.

About 60 farmers have committed suicide after their crop failed owing to adverse climatic changes during Rabi (early 2015) and Kharif (late 2015) seasons yet the state government has not come up with any contingency plan to help them or compensate their crop losses despite having 'girdwari' (crop assessment) report collected from farm areas, Pilot said.

Every year in Kharif or Rabi crop seasons, farmers bore the brunt of natural calamities such as rains, hailstorm or fire incidents, and yet there was no permanent solution or compensation provided to them by the state government, and whatever offered was meagre, delayed assistance or crop insurance benefit, he added.

If industry status is granted to agriculture, farmers would be eligible for easy loans, insurance, access to market, FDI proposals, diesel, credit and subsidy, Pilot said, adding farmers would be secure.

Attacking the Raje government for its apathy towards peasants, the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President alleged that before coming to power, BJP made a lot of promises during "Swaraj Sankalp Yatra", but none was fulfilled so far in spirit, and it appeared that the Raje government neither had any interest towards peasants, nor she had any will to do it.