Press Statement issued by Shri L.K. Advani
(Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha)
At a press conference in Solapur on April 12, 2006

Congress contribution to India's Human Development Index is to introduce a unique new parameter -- Kisans' Suicide Mortality Rate -- and to achieve a sharp increase in it! Congress-led Maharashtra govt's eight-year report card: over 5,000 malnutrition deaths among Adivasi children; nearly 1,000 suicides by farmers; severe power crisis; loss of 'most developed state' status BJP demands a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on farmers' suicides

Today is the last day of the first leg of my Yatra in Maharashtra. (I shall come to Vidarbha in the second leg on 20th April.) Right from the time I entered Maharashtra from Gujarat at Acchad in Thane district on 9th April, the Yatra has received enthusiastic responses in cities, towns and villages alike. This is indicative of the fact that the message which I have trying to convey through this Yatra is striking a deep chord in the hearts and minds of the patriotic people of Maharashtra. I have no doubt that the power of the message itself will ensure the success of the Bharat Suraksha Yatra, when it concludes in Delhi on May 10.

I wish to sincerely thank the people of Maharashtra for the love, affection and solidarity with which they welcomed the Yatra during its first leg in the state. I especially thank the people of Solapur and neighbouring rural areas for their tremendous response yesterday.

The concept of 'Bharat Suraksha', about which my Party President Shri Rajnath Singh and I have been trying to educate the people through our two convergent yatras, has five basic goals: To safeguard National Security -- from jehadi terrorism and left-wing extremism; To defend National Unity -- from the divisive politics of minorityism, and especially from the large-scale illegal immigration from Bangladesh; To rescue Governance -- from corruption and criminalization in high places; To save Parliamentary Democracy -- from institutional misuse, revival of authoritarianism of the Emergency era, and Congress party's fake culture of "sacrifice"; To protect the Economic Security of the Aam Aadmi, Garib and Kisans -- from the assaults of massive price rise, unemployment and debt.

Making the Annadata asurakshit: Bharat Suraksha Yatra aims to highlight the UPA government's failures and the Congress party's flawed thinking on all these issues. Today I shall focus my comments on the government's betrayal of kisans, agriculture and rural development in general. This has made life asurakshit (insecure) for crores of people in rural India.

I was shocked to see that the President's Address to Parliament (which is prepared by the Government as its report card and a statement about its future plans) at the start of the Budget session did not even mention the occurrence of the large-scale farmers' suicides in several states of the country. When the Central government does not even acknowledge the existence of this problem, how can our kisans expect it to provide any solution or succour?

Suicide by farmers in large numbers is the clearest sign that our country is going through its greatest agrarian crisis since the Green Revolution. Repeated crop failure, inability to meet the rising cost of cultivation, breakdown of institutional credit, indebtedness (mostly to private usurious money-lenders) and the resultant state of extreme despair – this seems to be the sorry state of agriculture in many suicide-affected states. The other indicators of the agrarian crisis are a stagnant agricultural growth rate and speedier migration of rural population to urban areas for employment. Until a few years ago, suicides were confined to the cotton growing areas of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Now, this tragic phenomenon has spread to paddy and soya belts of Punjab and Maharashtra and groundnut growers in Kerala. I am told that even onion and grape growers in Maharashtra are hit badly by the vicious debt cycle.

Govt of khaas aadmi, not aam aadmi: For many years, I have been saying that one of the indicators for judging India's overall progress is to see whether India's ranking in the UN Human Development Index (HDR), which has been hovering in the region of 120-130 for many years, comes down to the level of developed nations in the world. The HDR is measured on the basis of parameters such as the Infant Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Rate, Literacy Rate, average life expectancy, etc.

It is ironic that, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and Congress-led governments in several states have contributed a new index – Kisans' Suicide Mortality Rate to measure rural India's reverse development. How can a party that cannot provide suraksha to kisans, provide suraksha to the country?

Recently, I came across a report in The Hindu by P. Sainath, author of the acclaimed book "Everybody Loves A Good Drought", which described the chronic corruption in relief programmes to kisans in Maharashtra. He writes: "Not a paisa of the government's Rs. 1,075 crore 'Relief Package' has been disbursed so far," he writes. He then quotes an activist who poses a searing question to the Maharashtra government. "How do those in Mumbai care? "The suicides have crossed 300 (in Vidarbha). But the SENSEX has crossed 10,000." This is why I have been saying that this is not a government that cares for the Aam Aadmi, but for the Khaas Aadmi.

Demand for a JPC on farmers' suicides: When Parliament reconvenes on May 10, I shall demand the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into all aspects of the grave problem of farmers' suicides in several states in the country and recommend an effective plan of action to put an end to this national shame. Considering the gravity of this problem, this to me seems to be an appropriate response by the highest democratic platform in the country.

Congress-led Maharashtra govt's pathetic performance: I am deeply worried by the effect of the total absence of Good Governance in Maharashtra, whose signs are aplenty. When I entered the Adivasi belt of Thane, I was told about nearly 5,000 malnutrition deaths among tribal children in different parts of the state. In Mumbai I was told about the central and state governments' apathy towards the city's crumbling infrastructure, problem of slumdwellers and complete inaction to prevent the repeat of the July 26 deluge. Between Pune and Solapur I heard about the plight of onion and grape farmers. There is severe power shortage everywhere. It is sad to see that Maharashtra, which was for a long time considered the most developed state in the country, has slipped badly in investment and development rankings. The Congress-led government's 8-year report card is not only poor, it is pathetic.