Bhopal: Rashtriya Mazdur Kisan Sangh president Shivkumar Sharma ‘Kakkaji’ on Friday apologised to the public for the 10-day farmers’ strike that began on Friday, but asked them to consider the “gravity of the situation” if farmers stop growing crops.
The 10-day strike was launched across eight states — Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Chhattisgarh — with farmers cutting off milk and vegetable supply to dealers in the city.
The protesters are demanding loan waivers and higher minimum support prices. The agitation also coincides with the one year anniversary of the Mandsaur firing in which six farmers succumbed to police bullets on May 6 last year.
Speaking to reporters, Kakkaji said the death of 46,000 farmers is more serious than the inconvenience caused to the public. “No one would die without milk or vegetables, but imagine the gravity of the situation if we decide to stop growing crops for good,” he said.
“Earlier, 110 farmers’ bodies supported our agitation, but now almost every union, barring one or two BJP-backed organisations, are with us,” said the 67-year-old union leader, who was seen as the chief architect of the 2017 farmers’ unrest in the state.
Lack of MSP, bad weather, middlemen in mandis, price deficit and insurance botch-ups have devastated farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Kakkaji said. He added that ‘chana’ was to be procured by government agencies in February this year, but was purchased in May.
He alleged that five farmers had died in mandis while waiting to sell their produce in blistering heat.
“This time we are persisting with the Gaon Bandh protest and if anything untoward happens during the agitation, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan would have to share the onus,” he said.
Launching a scathing attack on Chouhan’s chief ministership, Kakkaji said that in the 15-year BJP rule, Rs1 lakh loan of farmers had spiralled to Rs 15 lakh.
“We want 1.5 times return on input cost, one-time loan waiver, fixed income for marginal farmers and brining crops like onion, potato, garlic, milk, vegetables etc under the ambit of Minimum Support Prices,” Kakkaji said.
He said no politician would be allowed to gate-crash the protest, but added that political parties were free to offer support. He said the Rashtriya Mazdur Kisan Sangh would chalk out its future course in a June 11 meeting if their demands aren’t met by then.
Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Anil Yadav said farmers were committed to holding peaceful protests but “government-backed organisations are fuelling trouble”. “The BJP is misleading farmers by telling them it’s a Congress agitation.”
It was business as usual in Neemuch and Mandsaur, the epicentre of last year’s agitation. Supply of milk, vegetables and fruits was hit marginally with police keeping a tight vigil in the towns and along the highways.
Milk supply was slightly hit in Dewas, but milk plants made up for the shortfall and tankers filled with milk were sent to rural areas under police protection.
The vegetables prices that surged in the last few days slipped in Malwa–Nimar region, the worst affected by farmers’ stir last year.
Comments
0 comment