J&K faces risk of Rs 2,000 cr loss due to highway restrictions: Hasnain Masoodi tells Parliament

National Conference senior leader and Member of Parliament from Anantnag, Hasnain Masoodi, Wednesday said that Jammu and Kashmir is at the risk of facing immense losses due to highway restrictions.

According to a NC statement, Masoodi while raising the issueof national highway restrictions in the Parliament said that the state facesthe risk of Rs 2,000 crore loss due to high way restrictions. While replying tothe demand for grants on Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Masoodi said, “Withthe cold storage capacity of 5 percent of total produce and 1 percentcommercial processing, the fresh fruit produced in current season will rotunless immediately transported to fruit markets within and outside country. Itherefore call for lifting of restrictions to facilitate fruit export.”

   

Masoodi reminded the Central Government that 3.5 millionpeople were dependent on 2.5 million mt fruit industry and their interestscould not be jeopardized. He also lamented over negligence of governmenttowards removing the bottle necks for increased production of Saffron in thestate. “The most important cash crop of the State that would earn millions inforeign exchange presents a tale of government’s apathy and failure of PMsaffron mission.”

Referring to the Union Budget 2019-2020 as anti farmer,Masoodi said, “With little relief to the 22 crore farmers; combining PMKissanSamanYujna with the budgetary demands helps the government to conceal thedownslide in budgetary allocations for agriculture and farmer welfare. Thebenefit under Saman is to elude 55 percent of the farmers as the benefit islinked to land and 55 percent of the framers are landless.”

Masoodi also put government in a spot on 3.7 percentdecrease in allocation to ICAR and restricting allocation to research to mere0.3 percent. “Such allocation is more than 1 percent in case of Brazil andMexico,” he said in his reply.

He also underscored various discrepeancies in KisanBimaYojnastating, “The benefit does not reach the insured as a farmer in case of cropfailure is to prove that crop of entire taluka had failed or was destroyed,with 67 percent of farmers with less than a hectare, bulk of the farmers areleft at the mercy of money lenders prone to exploitation, without an efficientand humane lending mechanism.”

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