Naidu for implementing Swaminathan Commission report

Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu said his party, if returned to power, would provide a special budget for agriculture to make farming more profitable.

Addressing farmers at Rythu Kosam, a meeting organised to demand adequate compensation to farmers who have lost their crop in the recent rains, Naidu also announced Guntur Declaration. This was signed by several senior leaders including former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI deputy general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy, Indian National Lok Dal president Om Prakash Chautala and RLD chief Ajit Singh.

The Guntur Declaration appealed to farmers that ending their lives was not a solution to their problems. The declaration wanted the Centre to implement the Swaminathan Commission report on agriculture, extend insurance coverage for crops, give loans to farmers at 3 per cent rate of interest, waive all taxes on agriculture produce, promote research in agriculture, issue identification cards to tenant farmers and bring in new legislation preventing land acquisition that does not have the approval of the owner.

Karat said the UPA government was not ready to pay Rs 10,000 compensation to farmers. Naidu said the government could spend on the Commonwealth Games but was not keen on protecting farmers.