India's PM Modi vows to help farmers after land Bill stand-off
MATHURA, India (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Monday to improve the lot of India's beleaguered farmers, promising non-stop power and better irrigation, as he battles to win approval for a controversial land Bill.
At a mass rally to mark the first anniversary of his inauguration, Mr Modi told thousands of supporters that he had attacked corruption in his first 12 months in office and ended the "looting" of the country.
But in his address in a mainly rural district, Mr Modi acknowledged farmers faced tough times. He insisted he had their welfare at heart, after criticism that legislation designed to make it easier for businesses to acquire farmland would worsen their plight.
Mr Modi was put on the defensive last month by the suicide of a farmer at a rally in New Delhi against the land Bill, a death seized on by opponents as an example of his administration's insensitivity towards those on the land. But the premier said some 300,000 struggling farmers had killed themselves since independence. "We don't have to do politics on this issue but we must understand that an Indian has died. Farmers are facing a lot of issues," the right-wing prime minister told the rally at Mathura in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh
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