Sainath on Monday.
He was delivering a keynote address at the Mishra memorial lecture organised by NCP state president Ramesh Dixit and his activist ys that only 1% of the population has grabbed 52% wealth in the country.He said that despite his campaigns against mindless exploitation of water by the wealthy in Maharashtra, fancy gold clubs, exclusive and individual swimming pools were going on unchecked while the poor and tribals in Marathwada face water crisis and are forced to buy water.
Sainath said that undeserving people have been posted on key positions in prestigious institutions including FTII, IITs, IIMs, BHU and other universities causing immense harm but added that the young leaders from JNU, Hyderabad and Gujarat are putting up a challenge.Speaking on the farm crisis in nation and recent budget, Sainath said that the government’s policies would not double farm income, but certainly double the suicides by farmers.
He said that 3.10 lakh farmers committed suicide in the last 20 years, and if the fixing of MSP at 1.5 times production cost is not increased, it would further dupe farmers as the formula for fixing MSP was grossly erroneous..