The Odisha Krushak Sathi Sangh on Thursday staged a massive demonstration in front of the State Assembly seeking immediate Government intervention for fulfilment of their longstanding demands.
According to Sangh president Sivaji Patnaik, the Agriculture Department had engaged Krushak Sathis in each gram panchayat (GP) in 2005-06 to help farmers with ideas of saving their crops and boosting production.
Stating that their demands have been pending for over two years, Patnaik said nearly 6,000 Sathis are leading a hand-to-mouth existence, but no steps have yet been taken for their welfare.
“Basically, our job includes soil testing, e-waster management and crop development works. The Government pays us Rs 4,000 per annum as an incentive. But since out of the 6,234 gram panchyats 4,500 GPs have no Village-level Agriculture Workers (VAWs), we are doing their duties as additional duties sans any further incentive,” alleged Sangh general secretary Santosh Kumar Behera.
The Krushak Sathis have been demanding wages as par with the skilled labourers, employment of highly-educated Sathis as VAWs and training in the latest technology on agriculture, besides social security, insurance facility, bicycle, agriculture loan and permanent land for building a Krushak Bhawan in GP headquarters.