Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), Citizens For Democracy, and other like-minded organisations have termed the proposed amendment to the Karnataka Land reforms Act as anti-farmer and a retrograde step and have urged the Chief Minister to immediately withdraw the decision.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, president of SPS S.R. Hiremath said that the proposed move by the State government to amend the Act to allow non-agricultural families to buy farmlands would further worsen the lives of the farmers who were already in distress.
“The proposed amendment will sound the death knell to the farmers. Besides shrinking agricultural land, the move will further push them into distress,” he said.
Terming the move as only a step to help real estate businessemen and the super rich, Mr. Hiremath said that there was no farmers’ interest in the move.
Pointing out that there were already reports to authenticate that 25% of the farm labourers were landless, Mr. Hiremath said that the proposed move would only add an additional 25% of marginal farmers with small land holdings to the category of landless farmers. “It will only further worsen the agrarian crisis which is leading to farmers’ suicides,” he said.
Mr. Hiremath said SPS and CFD would be forced to launch a Statewide agitation if Mr. Yediyurappa failed to respond to the pulse of the people and revoke the decision.