WEB DESK
Farmers in several states, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, maharashtra have launched 10 day protest for their various demands.
The demonstration termed “Gaon Bandh”, is being held to demand a complete loan waiver, minimum support price for their yield and an assurance of permanent minimum income from the government. The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), a federation of 130 farmer organisations, which is spearheading the protests, made it clear that farmers will not supply any vegetables and dairy produce to the cities for the next 10 days.
The federation has assured that farmers won’t block any roads, but they will sit on dharna along 30 major highways in the country.
The seven states where the protests are being held are: Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Farmers in Punjab wearing green turbans can be seen in viral photographs throwing vegetables, fresh fruits and spilling milk on streets. Milk flowed on streets and tomatoes were dumped on a highway near Nashik in Maharashtra.
On Day 1 of the strike, there has been no supply at all in Punjab except for Amritsar. In Haryana, the supply was reduced by 40-50 per cent. Milk supply is fully shut in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu. In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, prices of vegetables have gone up by 400 per cent and in Bhopal prices are up by 70-80 per cent. Only three trucks reached in Nashik mandi that gets 300 trucks of produce in a day.
The farmers are demanding immediate implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation on minimum support prices; the price at which the government procures milk from them to be fixed at Rs. 27 and a one-time loan waiver.
“This has now become a nation-wide agitation. We have named the protest ‘Gaon Bandh’. We won’t go to cities, as we don’t want to disturb the normal lives of the people. We have decided to observe a Bharat Bandh on 10 June till 2 pm. We would request businessmen in cities to close their shops till 2 pm,” said Shiv Kumar Sharma, president, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh. He added that if anyone wants to buy vegetables and dairy products, they will have to drive to the villages.
The protesting farmers, under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Haryana, Punjab said they will impose a 10-day blockade on movement of agriculture produce, including vegetables and fruits, from rural areas to cities and towns as a mark of protest.
The farmers’ organisations are demanding immediate implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report on farming, giving minimum support price to farmers for their produce, waiving loans and helping farmers make agriculture cost-effective.
BKU President Balbir Singh Rajewal said the farmers were forced to start the protest as the Central government was not helping the community.
He said the protest was getting a good response, adding that no farmer was being forced to stop supply of produce and milk to urban areas.
The protest also marks the first death anniversary of seven farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on June 6 last year. “The government responds to the rightful demands of the farmers with lathis and bullets. June 6 is a black day for farmers. Nothing will be supplied by villages to cities for the next 10 days, neither will anything be brought from the cities during the period,” Aam Kisan Union chief Kedar Sirohi said.
Mandsaur was the epicentre of farmers’ protest last year when hundreds of farmers demanded better prices for their crops and loan waivers. The protests turned violent forcing the police to open fire to control the crowd. Five farmers had died on the spot, and two others died later. As protests erupted across the state after the firing, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan began what came to be dubbed a “peace fast”.
Fearing a repeat, the Mandsaur district administration has made elaborate security arrangements.