Lucknow: All members of Parliament and legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will give their one month’s salary to farmers who have suffered crop losses due to inclement weather. However, instead of giving the money through the government, the BSP leaders will distribute the same to farmers in their respective constituencies.
“The Centre and state governments are not taking visible steps to provide any relief to farmers and their exercise is limited to issuing statements in the media. Reports of farmers committing suicide are pouring in almost every day but the government remain unmoved,” Ms Mayawati said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
She said she had directed her MPs and MLAs to personally meet farmers and their families in distress in their respective constituencies and provide them monetary relief. She pointed out that it should be the effort of every Bahujan Samaj Party leader to prevent farmers from committing suicide. The BSP will be holding a state-wide demonstration on April 27 in Uttar Pradesh to demand adequate compensation for farmers.
Ms Mayawati said that it was surprising to find that at a time when faremrs in north India were facing a major crisis due to unexpected weather conditions and had loss their crops, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav were enjoying foreign trips. “The ministers from the Centre and state are only posing for photographs in the fields but when it comes to distributing compensation, the governments are adopting a laid-back attitude,” she said.
The Bahujan Samaj Party president said that the Prime Minister had directed his party MPs to fan out into their constituencies and inform the people about the success of his foreign tours. “The Prime Minister is probably not aware of the fact that his leaders will have to face the wrath of the people who are battling with poverty, inflation and now destruction of crops,” she stated.
