Congress to join farmers' Bharat Bandh on Sept 27

New Delhi: Supporting the farmers' movement, the Congress on Saturday said that the party will join the "Bharat Bandh" called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on September 27 to mark the first anniversary of the passing of the three controversial farm laws in Parliament.

Party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said that the Narendra Modi government has systematically assaulted the agriculture sector in the past seven years.

At the very onset in 2014, the Modi government came up with the Land Acquisition Ordinance to usurp farmlands in the name of strategic sectors but the government had to drop this bill, he said.

According to Vallabh said, the government in an affidavit to the Supreme Court in 2015 had submitted that the markets will get distorted if MSP is decided according to the formula laid down by the Swaminathan Commission.

"Meanwhile, the government found a way to divert the agri-budget to private insurance companies by bringing in PM Kisan Bima Yojana," Vallabh alleged.

Taking on the government, the Congress leader said, it was the Modi government that had imposed a tax on the major farming tools such as tractors, pesticides, and seeds. "As per one study, in the last seven years, per hectare cost of farming has increased by Rs 25,000 because of the indirect taxes imposed on agriculture," he added.

Taking a dig at the Modi government's commitment to double the farmers' income by February 2022, he said, instead of doubling the farmer's income, the income of food growers has hit an all-time low as in 2012-13 on an average each farmer had a debt of Rs 47,000, which has rose to Rs 74,000 in 2018-19.

"The Modi government is responsible for the all-round ruin of the farm sector. And now they are turning a blind eye towards the farmers who have been protesting for nine months against farm laws at the Delhi border. About 600 farmers have died in this agitation but the government still insists on not talking about the farm laws," Vallabh said.