Indian farmers are on a 10-day long nationwide strike demanding fair prices for their produce and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and farm loan waivers among other things. They are throwing vegetables and pouring milk on the road the farmers are letting out their grievances. The farmers are also preventing the movement of their produce to cities. This has caused the price of vegetables to soar in the market.
Called by the All India Kisan Mahasangh, the strike is being staged in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan among other states, disrupting the transport and the supply of essential goods across multiple markets in various states.
The All India Kisan Mahasangh, an umbrella body of 110 farmers’ organisations across India, announced on April 30 that it will block the supply of farm products such as grains, vegetables and milk across the country to attract government’s attention towards the rampant agrarian crisis and farmer distress.
“All milk dairies in the Nashik district are closed and collection centres for milk has been affected. Agitating farmers poured milk on the roads at Visapur in Yeola taluka in the morning today. Arrival of vegetables at APMC is also low,” Raju Desale, working president of the All India Kisan Sabha.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday stated that the ongoing protest by farmers is a “sign of their desperation in the face of the wrongs being perpetrated on them by the central government.” Singh remarked that the farming community in the country is facing a serious serious crisis due to the “indifferent” attitude of the BJP government.
The Punjab CM noted that the central government had ‘failed’ to provide any relief to the farmer’s suffering from the agrarian crisis which was a result of the ‘antagonistic policies’ of the BJP-led central government.
Singh further said that the farmers were committing suicide due to their mounting debt burdens as agriculture is no longer financially viable occupation, considering the inadequate MSP. He also pointed out that the implementation of Swaminathan Commission report was the only impactful and long-term solution to the agrarian crisis in the country.
Talking about the failure of the central government in implementing the Swaminathan commission’s recommendations, CPI National Secretary Atul Kumar Anjan had earlier said that BJP government, despite having the necessary support from other political parties, BJP doesn’t have the intention to implement the recommendations. “The government is bound by corporate lobbies who want a great portion of the GDP to come from the service sector because it’s an instant money-making segment whereas capital investment in agriculture yields slow results,” he told indianexpress.com.
One of the main demands of the agitating farmers is the implementation of MS Swaminathan Commission recommendation of fixing minimum price of their produce as 50% above cost of production to all crops and guarantee purchase centres.
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