Farmers took out a tractor rally in Mysuru on Thursday seeking the implementation of their long-pending demands.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram
Farmers under the aegis of Samyukta Kisan Morcha took out a tractor rally in the city on Thursday and submitted a set of demands for the government to concede.
The tractor rally passed through the main thoroughfares of the city and headed towards the Deputy Commissioner’s office where they were stopped by the police. But farmers insisted on submitting a memorandum and met the additional Deputy Commissioner Mr. Shivaraj in this connection.
The farmers were led by Kurubur Shanthakumar who said that though the country attained independence 78 years ago, farmers were still not “free” as they were not receiving the fair and remunerative price for the crops cultivated by them.
He said political parties irrespective of their ideologies have used farmers for their vested interest and have issued only oral promises none of which have been fulfilled.
He said the tractor rally held on Independence Day was an effort to draw the attention of the government to the predicament and the crisis being faced by the farmers. Mr. Kurubur Shanthakumar pointed out that the country grew only 60 lakh million tons of food grain during Independence whereas the crop output had increased to 354 lakh million tons which underlines the industriousness of the Indian farmers. Yet, the farmers were denied fair and remunerative price for their hard work, he added.
The memorandum submitted to the authorities called for waiver of agricultural loans, change in crop insurance policies to benefit the farmers, change in the NDRF yardstick to determine the quantum of loss incurred by farmers during natural disasters etc.
Mr.Shanthakumar said a few other key demands also include abolition of GST on farm implements and agriculture-related products including fertilizers and pesticides. He also called for withdrawing the amendments to the land reforms act, resumption of matching amount paid to the farmers by the State Government to the PM Kisan Samman Yojana among others.
————eom————–
