The 10-day long nationwide protest called by the farmers’ outfits entered the third day on Sunday, affecting vegetable and milk supply. Vegetables were sold at some places under police protection. Although the rise in prices is currently at Rs 1-5 a kg, the prices are expected to rise further as the protest continues leading to decline in vegetable supply. Trucks of vegetables, fruits and other food items reached Delhi on Saturday and Sunday but the supply is less. If fresh supplies do not arrive, situation may worsen.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana continued to dump their produce on roads as a mark of their protest, while vegetable prices soared in several cities of the two States.
The agitation is led by the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh which is the umbrella organisation. Over 100 outfits are taking part in it. There were no reports of violence during the “Gaon Bandh” (rural shutdown) which the farmers started on Friday demanding loan waiver, higher prices for their produce and immediate implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report on farming.
The farmers have called on the strike to press for their demands of waiver of loans and the right price for crops.
Farmer organisations have also called for a boycott of mandis or wholesale markets in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, leading to fears of shortage and price rise.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday dubbed Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s controversial remarks about the ongoing farmers agitation “bizzare”.
“It is not the protest which is bizarre, but the Union Minister’s statement,” Amarinder Singh said. He said that the Union Minister’s statement that the protest by farmers was an attempt to gain media attention showed the Centre’s apathy towards the farming community.
The Punjab Chief Minister demanded Radha Mohan Singh’s resignation saying that he did not connect with the farmers’ woes. “When a minister entrusted with the welfare of the farmers cannot relate to their problems and is absolutely indifferent to their plight, one can well imagine which way the country is headed,” Amarinder Singh said.
He added that the farmers were committing suicide out of sheer desperation and masses were reeling under spiralling prices. “When the farmers, who feed the nation, are forced to resort to such extreme steps, including taking to the streets to draw attention to their pitiable condition, then it does not augur well for the country,” he said.
“Radha Mohan Singh clearly had no qualms about showing his lack of sensitivity to their problems,” he said.
Expressing solidarity with the agitating farmers, Amarinder Singh blamed the Centre for their woes.
“The farmers are suffering as a result of the Central Government’s failure to waive their debts, which many State Governments, including Punjab, have repeatedly sought,” he said.
Questioning the Centre’s intent to rescue the beleaguered farmers, Amarinder Singh asked, “If a bankrupt State like Punjab could do its bit for a loan waiver, why could the Centre not come up with a waiver schemeIJ”