Accord industry status to agriculture: Pilot

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.
On a query whether Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi

will take over the post of party president, Pilot said, "Rahul will be welcomed as the President whenever he is elected or nominated by the Congress working committee... It would be up to the party President Sonia Gandhi to decide on the issue."

Meanwhile, drawing the state government's attention to rising incidents of suicides by students of coaching institutes in Kota, Pilot said 19 students have committed suicide due to study-related stress in the state, hence, the chief minister should draw a long term strategy to resolve the problem in consultation with parents and heads of coaching institutes.
Speaking about the proposed oil refinery in Barmer district, a dream project of the previous Congress government, he said, "BJP sarkar ki niyar nahi hai ise chalu karne ki, nahi ise band karne ki himmat hai (BJP has no intention to start a refinery, nor it has the courage to stop it)."

The BJP government should stop mean thinking on it and take up the project on priority, he suggested.
Referring to Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister R S Rathore's charge that former chief minister Ashok Gehlot being sidelined by the party high command and not given importance in state Congress unit, Pilot said, "I am getting support, affection, and closeness of every senior leader and there is no such question of ignoring anyone."
Taking a jibe at the BJP minister, Pilot said, "Actually, Rathore is not satisfied with his ministry as he wanted a better portfolio, hence, he is trying to please Chief Minister Raje so he could get a good ministry in future."

Commenting on senior IAS officer Umrao Salodiya, who converted to Islam in protest against Raje government's alleged anti-dalit move, Pilot said, "The BJP government is "dalit virodhi" and atrocities against the community have risen in last two years of Raje regime."
"It appeared that Salodiya was denied Chief Secretary post deliberately as he was a dalit officer," he added.