Rau takes PMO route to attack CM

Stepping up attack on the Vilasrao Deshmukh government, MPCC president Prabha Rau on Monday said that the state government failed to check farmers’ suicide in the cotton-growing Vidarbha region and she indeed raised the point in his meeting with the PM Manmohan Singh last week in Mumbai.

Rau, who led the Congress delegation to meet PM, used the opportunity to underline the shortcomings of Deshmukh government. Rau said, “The PM has assured the delegation that anyone can call upon the PMO to inform it about the people’s problem in the state.”

In the 12-point memorandum presented to the prime minister, farmers’ plight in the state was the central issue. Rau demanded that loans up to Rs30,000 given to marginal and small farmers should be written off. In the present package, the interest amount has been waived off but the principal amount remains.

Rau said, “The PM’s package has helped the banks but failed to tackle the root-cause of the problem faced by small and marginal farmers. We may take solace in the declining number of farmers’ suicide. The moot question is why even one farmer should be driven to commit suicide.”

Officials in the chief minister’s office said, “Farmers’ suicide has declined in the last one year and media statistics about it is often exaggerated. Even the PM expressed satisfaction over the rehabilitation exercise undertaken through the PM package.”

Dwelling on the importance of the eight reports, prepared by the MPCC, on SEZ, farmers, malnutrition, power and government’s less than satisfactory performance on these fronts, Rau said, “Our purpose was to act as a bridge between the government and the people. We wanted to highlight government’s shortcomings and engage it in a constructive dialogue for the welfare of the state.”

Rau even expressed serious concern over the Centre’s casual approach to land acquisition for SEZ. “One-time monetary compensation to farmers is not enough to rehabilitate an entire family, whose generations survival depends on the agricultural land,” she said. Earlier, AICC general secretary Margaret Alva had visited Mumbai to review the performance of the Deshmukh government.