‘No Scheme to Give Money Directly to Farmers’: Yogendra Yadav

Yogendra Yadav said whatever was announced for farmers in the relief package was nothing but a publicity stunt.

File Photo: Yogendra Yadav

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim and Varun Sharma

PM Modi announced a relief package worth Rs 20 lakh crores, while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman elaborated on the allocation of funds.

“While plans were introduced to help farmers, there were none which would directly give money to him,” said Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav. He further added that despite talking about farmers thrice as a part of the relief packages, their pockets continue to be empty.

What Do Farmers Want?

Yadav says that it is imperative to understand what difficulties farmers and agricultural workers are facing, adding that farmers primarily want compensation for their produce.

“Markets are shut in most places till now. Farmers want to be paid the MSP (Minimum Support Price) for their produce, as decided by the government. They want their interests forgiven on the loans they have taken, and the repayment be deferred for a few months.”

Yogendra Yadav, President, Swaraj India

‘Eight Out of 11 Announcements Budget-Related’

Yadav said eight of the 11 announcements made in the third tranche of the package were mostly budget-related, and some of them were already announced earlier. He said, how much money would be allocated to which department and when was not clear.

“None of these eight announcements had anything to do with helping farmers,” he added.

He further remarked that all the announcements made in the relief package for farmers were made merely to grab eyeballs, and not to actually help the distressed.