Protesting farmers under the leadership of Ahmednagar Member of Parliament (MP) Nilesh Lanke warned of closing govt offices on Monday as part of their agitation for justice to farmers.
On Sunday, the farmers led by Lanke — on an indefinite protest since Friday — stated that they were not going to settle for anything less than govt agreeing to their demand of minimum support price (MSP) for onions and other agriculture produce, as also for milk producers.
“It has been three days since the farmers have been eating and sleeping under the sky outside the Ahmednagar district collectorate to stress for their demands. Neither district guardian minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who is also the animal husbandry minister, nor anybody else from state govt is talking to the farmers. Hence, we are now thinking of closing govt offices from Monday to draw govt’s attention to issues faced by farmers,” said NCP district president Rajendra Phalke.
The farmers had organised a tractor rally in Ahmednagar city on Sunday, leading to traffic jams around the district headquarters.
The rally began from the collectorate and travelled through different parts of the city like State Bank Chowk, Chandni Chowk, Bus Station, Raj Palace Hotel and more, before reaching the collectorate. Lanke also participated in the rally.
The farmers’ demand on Friday — beginning initially as a one-day agitation only — was for the collector of Ahmednagar district, Siddharam Salimath, to come out of the office, talk to them and accept their memorandum. The farmers got further agitated when this demand was turned down; instead, resident deputy collector Rajendra Patil had accepted the memorandum of their demands.
Demands include complete waiver on loans for farmers battered by the vagaries of nature, who are unable to produce adequate crop, formation of an Act to govern milk prices, a Rs40 per litre assured price for milk to cover input cost and provide relief to milk producers, and regulation on import of milk powder into the country to safeguard local milk producers.
You can now read the most important #news on #eDairyNews #Whatsapp channels!!!
🇮🇳 eDairy News ÍNDIA: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaPidCcGpLHImBQk6x1F
