Congress protests "anti-farmers" policies of Centre, Hr govt

The Congress today hit out at the BJP-led Centre and the Haryana government for grabbing power by "cheating" farmers and making false promises.
The party staged a day-long dharna at the grain market here organised by its national chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Addressing the gathering, Surjewala lashed out the state and the Central governments for allegedly grabbing power by "cheating" farmers, farm-labour, and traders by making "false" promises.
"Over 12,000 farmers have committed suicide in a year due to anti-farmer policies of the Centre, and the Haryana government," he said.
The BJP, during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaigning, promised farmers that if it comes to power, it would ensure 50 percent profit over and above the cost of the producing food grains as envisaged in the Swaminathan Report, he added.

"However, after coming to power not only Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to fulfill his promise but filed a government's affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that it was not feasible," Surjewala claimed.

The farmers have been ruined financially during the last three years of the BJP rule all over the country, he said.
He called, the 'Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana' a big "scandal" of all times with the farmers.
"According to rabi 2016 figures, ten insurance companies collected Rs 16,700 crore as premium by deducting premiums from the bank accounts of farmers and gave only Rs 6,000 crore as compensation to farmers in the state (Haryana)," Surjewala claimed.