Tarigami demands one time KCC loan exemption to farmers

Kulgam, Dec 12: While expressing serious concern over rising unemployment, power scarcity, corruption and unabated arrests and killings in Kashmir, CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami Wednesday demanded one-time exemption of KCC loan to the small farmers and fruit growers whose harvest was damaged by the recent heavy snowfall.

This was mentioned in a press release issued here.

Addressing workers convention at Kulgam today he said the announced scale of relief under “state-specific special natural calamity” for damaged orchards due to snowfall is quite inadequate given the quantum of destruction. Besides, the huge damage to the present crop, the snowfall caused massive damage to fruit trees. Millions of trees have been damaged due to the snowfall and the mainstay of the Kashmir economy – horticulture – is in shambles. Even the announced meagre relief has not been disbursed among the victims though almost one and half months have passed.

Tarigami said that the need is to announce one-time exemption of KCC loan to the small farmers and fruit growers whose harvest was damaged by the snowfall, besides the implementation of Crop Insurance Scheme (CIS) in the state. “Though the announcement of the crop insurance scheme was made by the government, it is unfortunate that the said scheme has not implemented in Kashmir so far. It becomes an obligation for the government to come to the support and succour of the farmers and orchardists as they form the backbone of the state’s economy and have always been suffering on account weather vagaries,” said he.

The issue of unemployment, he said, has reached to an alarming proportion as successive governments have failed to suggest a framework to tackle this issue. No policy framework has been suggested to address this huge and vulnerable problem. In absence of other viable avenues, government sector is the only area which provides some opportunity of employment generation. But, the inability of the government in creating such opportunities the future seems to be bleak for our younger generation.