Srinagar: National Conference on Saturday expressed concern on the rural distress in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the post August 2019 policies of the government runs in the opposite direction of the steps required to fix the rural issues
NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said this while addressing a workers meeting at Town Hall Kulgam today. Among others District President Kulgam Abdul Majeed Bhat Larmi, Municipal Council Chairman Muneeb Zargar were also present on the occasion.
Lambasting the callous attitude of the administration towards farmers, horticulturalists, who have suffered massive losses due to recent adverse weather conditions, Imran said in a statement.
“Exploitation, price fluctuations, unregulated market, lack of cold storage facilities, price hike of pesticides and fertilizers, high cost of transport are some of the major challenges being faced by the horticulturalists, dairy farmers and paddy cultivators in Kashmir province. The losses incurred by weather vagaries have further compounded their worries. Agriculture sector is the back bone of our region’s economy, but this pivotal sector has for the past eight years failed to give any returns to the growers, and if left unattended it could lead to a grave humanitarian crisis of grower suicides,” he said.
It seems that the administration, he said, instead of assessing the damage on ground, has been fixing the compensation for our calamity hit farmers, sitting behind the four walls of their offices. Calling out the cut in social secur­ity spending, as well as allo­ca­tions for procurement of crops, crop ins­urance, food and fertiliser subsidies, he said all these moves are likely to add fuel to the fire of the rural crisis.
District President Kulgam Abdul Majeed Bhat Larmi in his address said, “The blueprint for making smart villages in South Kashmir, particularly Kulgam, was put into a cold storage by successive governments since 2015.”

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KR Desk