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Updated May 28th, 2021 at 15:39 IST

'Kerala Govt committed to raise farmers' income by 50% in next 5 yrs': Governor Khan

On Friday, Kerala Governor claimed his govt was fully committed to farmers' welfare and their income would be raised by 5% in 5 years.

Reported by: Srishti Jha
Farmers protest
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During the session of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on May 28, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said that the Kerala State government was fully committed to farmers' welfare and their income would be raised by 50 per cent in the next 5 years. 

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said, "Value addition will be strengthened by agro-processing, establishing new small scale food processing industries and agro parks."

Governor Khan said, "My government is committed to raising farmer's incomes by 50% in the next 5 years. Value addition will be strengthened for this purpose by agro-processing & marketing & establishing new small scale food processing industries and agro parks.” “Production of vegetables in Kerala will be increased to attain self-sufficiency in vegetables during the next five years.”

Hinting at Kerala's plan to attain self-sufficiency with regards to vegetable production Khan said, "Production of vegetables in Kerala will be increased to attain self-sufficiency in vegetables during the next five years." 

The impasse over farm laws

On the other hand, earlier on Friday, Former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram accused the Centre of using the COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to turn public opinion against the farmers' protest. 

Under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha umbrella, several farm organizations are protesting at the Delhi borders seeking the repeal of the three agrarian laws. Responding to the argument that a mass gathering of people during the second wave is not acceptable, he stated, “prolonging the controversial farm laws in the midst of a pandemic is unconscionable”. Slamming the Union government for its "stubborn" attitude, the Rajya Sabha MP called upon the Centre to scrap the farm laws and commence fresh talks with farmers. 

At present, the talks between the Union government and the farmers' unions have come to a standstill. This is owing to the fact that farm associations refused to agree to the Centre's proposal for suspending the implementation of the aforesaid legislation for one and a half years. The divide between the two sides further exacerbated on January 26 after the farmers' tractor rally turned violent resulting in 510 Delhi police personnel getting injured and extensive damage to public property. While the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the farm laws, a committee appointed by the apex court submitted its report pertaining to the legislation in a sealed cover on March 19. 

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Published May 28th, 2021 at 15:39 IST

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