Amid farmer protest, Navjot Singh Sidhu claims country on the path to extreme hunger, poverty

Chandigarh (Punjab): Amid the ongoing farmer protests in and around the national capital, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday claimed that the country was on the path to extreme hunger and famine, and lamented on the unequal distribution of wealth in the country.

Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said, “India’s richest 1 per cent hold more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent. Poor toil, while rich consolidate wealth, farmers labour, but capitalist earn. Ambani added 90 Crore every hour to his wealth in the last six months, while Adani’s wealth increased by 61 per cent.” He also pointed out India’s poor rank in the Global Hunger Index.

“Meanwhile, India ranks 94th among 107 Nations in the Global Hunger Index. We are on the path to extreme hunger/ famine. Famines are not caused by non-existence of food, food is there, but is stored in Cold Storages and warehouses of Capitalist, beyond the purchasing capacity of Poor,” he added.

This comes amid as the farmers’ protest against the three agricultural sector laws passed by the Central government in the last monsoon session enters its seventh day, with demonstrations at the borders of the national capital and on the Sant Nirankari Samagam ground in Burari.

Yesterday, the Union government held a meeting with the representatives of the protesting farmers and offered to set up a committee to look into their demands, which they rejected.

After the meeting, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, however, said that the discussion was “good” and the fourth round of talks will be held on December 3.

The farmers are protesting against The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.