Mainstream WeeklyIn Telangana, cotton is a major cultivated crop after paddy. The recent decision by Union government to waive 11 % import tax on raw cotton from foreign countries is further pushing market-distressed farmers. Decision on exemption of import duties on August 18th was taken to stabilise domestic cotton prices and support the recent tariff-stricken textile industry. But the reality is different. It depresses prices further markets pushing farmers in to further distress and indebtedness. Also, the import tax waiver helps only big textile mills but not the garment exporters of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Tirupur, where lakhs of workers are losing jobs.
Farmers’ organisation SKMU claims that during the last eleven years, the government did not give MSPs as per the recommendations- C2 +50, as recommended by the M.S. Swaminathan Commission. It accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of duplicity and betrayal, and asked him to explain his earlier statement that farmers were his government