Jan Morcha plans dharna against deal

Special Correspondent

Also to demand better package for farmers

LUCKNOW: The Jan Morcha will stage a dharna to protest against the nuclear deal and demand a better deal for farmers, at Rajghat in Delhi on October 2.

The former Prime Minister and Jan Morcha leader Vishwanath Pratap Singh said here on Tuesday that farmers’ organisations all over the country would participate in the daylong dharna. Before that, Jan Morcha workers would stage a dharna and demonstration at the district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh against the Central Government’s decision to import wheat from Australia and the non-payment of sugarcane dues to farmers in that State.

Reiterating the Morcha’s opposition to the nuclear agreement with the United States, Mr. Singh accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of ignoring the majority will of Parliament.

Stating that the Government should have allowed debate in Parliament on the deal under Rule 184, Mr. Singh said foreign policy was built on consensus.

The Prime Minister wanted to have his way on the deal despite opposition in Parliament.

Mr. Singh questioned the Central Government’s decision to import 55 lakh tonnes of wheat from Australia at Rs. 16500 to Rs. 17500 a tonne, in spite of a good harvest. He said the move would cost the farmers dear. The benefit of subsidy for the Public Distribution System would go to the Australian farmers, he said.

He ridiculed the special package for the Vidharba farmers and said that even that failed to bail them out. Some were driven to suicide.

Mr. Singh demanded that the Land Acquisition Act be amended in the light of the recommendations of the standing committee of Parliament. He said the panel’s recommendations vindicated the Jan Morcha’s stand.