Buddha says Govt, not individual, to blame for agri-crisis
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12/05/2008
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Indian Express (New Delhi)
Seeking to clear the air over his criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said the Government and its policy-makers and not any individual were responsible for the crisis in the agriculture sector. "I am not blaming any person. I am blaming the Government. The Government and those who decide its policies lack foresight. It is because of their point of view that the country is facing such a crisis,' Bhattacharjee told a private channel. Pointing out that 16,000 farmers growing cash crops like cotton and sugarcane have committed suicide this year because they did not get good prices, Bhattacharjee said this had never happened before. "While cost of seeds and fertilisers have increased, farmers were not getting remunerative prices, not even the minimum support price for their crops,' he said. "A similar problem is being faced by the foodgrains sector. If it is seen that growth of agriculture productivity goes below the growth rate of population, it will spell disaster. Such a situation prevailed before independence, but we had been able to come out of it. However, recently it is seen that such a situation has come back,' Bhattacharjee said. On Friday, Bhattacharjee had criticised Singh for failing on all fronts. On Saturday, Singh had brushed aside his charge.