D. Raja slams Centre's agriculture policies

New Delhi, Dec 21 (ANI): Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) lawmaker D. Raja on Wednesday said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government's agriculture policies has failed to protect the interest of the farmers.

Raja held the ruling Congress Party responsible for the deteriorating condition of the farmers, and said that there was an increase in number of cases of suicides by the farmers.

"The agrarian distress is continuing, the farmer suicides are on increase. Despite of discussion in the parliament, the measures taken by Congress Party and UPA 2 Government are inadequate. Government is not taking any serious step to enhance the public investments in agriculture," he told the media here.

Raja further said that the government needed to take adequate steps to prevent the farmers from being victimised by the greedy moneylenders.

"Government is placing the small and marginal farmers, the over all majority of farming community at the mercy of the multinational corporations and money lenders. For credit, for loans they will have to depend upon the private money lending and they get into death trap. On the other hand for seeds, for inputs they will have to depend upon monsoon," he said.

The CPI-M lawmakers staged a protest outside the Parliament here today against the UPA Government's agriculture policies. (ANI)