Majority of the journalists like us, speak about farmers often. It has become a fashion for us. But it’s a passion for very few. There are very few journalists who practice what they preach! P Sainath is one among those very few journalists who not only speak about farmers and villages, but also live among them, speak on behalf of the farmers and fight for them.
His books and write-ups in leading news papers and magazines have compelled the respective governments to reconsider their policies and attitude towards farmers.
Now, P Sainath has written an excellent piece in The Hindu. He has exposed the Union Government and our politicians through the article. It has exposed the plight of the farmers and the favor given by the union government to the corporate sector.
Here is just one paragraph from the article. To read it full, click the link given below.
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Take a look at the budget and the “Revenues foregone under the central tax system.” The estimate of revenues foregone from corporate revenues in 2008-09 is Rs. 68,914 crore. (http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10/statrevfor/annex12.pdf) By contrast, the NREGS covering tens of millions of impoverished human beings gets Rs. 39,100 crore in the 2009-10 budget. Remember the great loan waiver of 2008, that historic write-off of the loans of indebted farmers? Recall the editorials whining about ‘fiscal imprudence?’ That was a one-time, one-off waiver covering countless millions of farmers and was claimed to touch Rs. 70,000 crore. But over Rs. 130,000 crore (in direct taxes) has been doled out in concessions in just two budgets to a tiny gaggle of merchants hogging at the public trough. Without a whimper of protest in the media. Imagine what budget giveaways to corporates since 1991 would total. We’d be talking trillions of rupees.
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Click this link to read the full article.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/15/stories/2009081555920800.htm
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