All India Kisan Congress hails party's five guarantees for farmers

The All India Kisan Congress on Wednesday lauded the party for offering five guarantees to farmers in its election manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, asserting that they will go a long way in ameliorating the plight of farmers in the country.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the national executive of the All India Kisan Congress, its chairman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said a unanimous resolution was passed at the executive meeting today thanking Congress president Mallkarjun Kharge and former president Rahul Gandhi for these guarantees.

Khaira said the first guarantee, that of a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops as per the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations will fulfill the long-pending demand of farmers from across the country.

In order to address the farm loan waiver issue, he said, the party has announced a guarantee to create a permanent 'Agriculture Loan Waiver Commission' to waive off the loans of farmers and determine the amount of the waiver. He said the commission would work out how to provide debt relief to farmers.

The Kisan Congress chairman also said the 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana' has proved to be a "scam" in its current form.

He said the Congress party has guaranteed payment directly into the bank accounts of farmers within 30 days in case of crop loss by changing the insurance plan.

Khaira also said there would be a guarantee to make a new import-export policy keeping the interests of farmers above all else, alleging that the current government is not in favour of farmers, who were put at a disadvantage owing to its policies.

The fifth guarantee, he said, was about taking all agriculture-related equipment like tractors, farm machinery and inputs like seeds, fertilisers and insecticides out of the purview of GST.

The guarantees to farmers form part of the Congress party's 'Paanch Nyay' scheme, under which five guarantees each are being offered to women, youth, farmers, tribals, and workers, and which the Congress has pledged to implement if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections beginning on 19 April.