Nagpur: The three-day Vidarbha tour of NCP President Sharad Pawar concluded today at Nagpur. The NCP Supremo’s Vidarbha Tour was aimed at gauging the situation of the plight of farmers in Vidarbha. After completing his tour, Pawar addressed the media in Nagpur.
He said that the condition of farmers in Vidarbha and Maratwada is miserable. Though the problem is on a larger scale, it could be resolved. “I don’t want to politicize the issue, but all the concerned political parties and the government should come together to provide relief to the ravaged farmers” said Pawar.
According to Sharad Pawar, farmers are committing suicide following losses being suffered by them. This is a reality, but farmers are not committing suicide because of losses. There are other factors that come into play and an in depth study should be undertaken to find the factors and the causes of farmers suicide. Even the help of experts should be solicited to deal with this problem.
The NCP President claimed that the intensity of the plight of farmers is much more in Yavatmal district. Citing the figures provided by the District Collector, most of the farmer’s suicide occurred between the months of July and October last year. The present BJP Government should also take the blame for the suicide of farmers.
According to Pawar, the loans of farmers in Yavatmal District should be waived off by the State Government, even though he is not in favour of complete waiver of loans. But since the plight of farmers in Yavatmal is so intense, he is inclined to demand a complete waiver of farmer’s loan in Yavatmal. However, he criticized the government for the insufficient measures taken for providing relief to the farmers.
Sharing his experience of farmers, Pawar took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the Prime Minister is on foreign tour and if the PM wants to discuss the issue of farmers, he is even willing to go there and talk to him.
Responsibilities of Deshmukh & Bang
Commenting on the responsibilities given to Anil Deshmukh and Ramesh Bang as Presidents of Nagpur City and Nagpur Rural respectively, Pawar said that the move is aimed at strengthening the party and ending the internal bickering.
Criticizes RSS Chief’s statement on quota
Taking a dig at RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat for his comments on reservation issue, Pawar said that responsible people should desist themselves from issuing such statements. “Reservation has helped backward community to progress and develop themselves however; I do not support this statement of RSS Chief”.
While elaborating on Bihar Assembly elections, Pawar said that the results of the election would decide the direction in the nation. “Bihar elections generally changed the course of political situation in the country, I have observed this phenomenon often. My party was also wanted to be a part of this change. I even discussed the political situation with Nitish Kumar but the seat sharing issue spoiled the equations”, claimed Pawar.
