The Congress on Wednesday urged the Left government in Kerala to provide immediate financial assistance to the farmers who have incurred a loss to the tune of Rs 500 crore due to the drought situation prevailing in the state.
The grand-old party accused the government of doing nothing despite an expert panel of the state Agriculture Department recently submitting a report detailing the loss incurred by the agrarian sector and the plight of the farmers.
The Congress also warned the government of intense agitation if there is any more delay in distributing necessary assistance to the distressed farmers.
“Agriculture crops in over 47,000 hectares of land were destroyed due to extreme heat and drought in the past three months. The assessment of the expert panel appointed by the Agriculture Department is that there had been a loss to the tune of Rs 250 crore,” KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said.
If the production loss was also calculated, the total loss would be more than Rs 500 crore, he said in a statement.
Farmers, who cultivated cardamom, rice and banana after taking hefty loans from banks, are suffering the most due to the drought, the leader pointed out.
“Farmers are unable to repay the loans taken from banks. Besides the recovery notice from banks, the threat from stray wild animals is also haunting them,” Sudhakaran further said.
As many as 43 farmers had died by suicide in the southern state due to the bad agriculture policy of the first and second Pinarayi Vijayan governments, Sudhakaran alleged.
Charging that agriculture pension had been stopped in the state for a long time, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief wanted the state and union governments to provide necessary financial assistance to the sector at the earliest.
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