As many as 150 activists faced preventive arrest while staging a demonstration and a meeting in front of district Collector office here on Thursday demanding pension and compensation for the families of the deceased farmers, who committed suicide due to crop loss this year.
However, they were later released from the police station. The farmer leaders under the banner of the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) led by district coordinator Rashmi Ranjan Swain and State-level leader Sesha Dev Nanda were protesting pressing for fulfillment of a 26-point charter of demands.
The activists locked up the main gate of the district Collector office and sat on a dharna. Police personnel rushed to the spot and dragged the agitators from the main gate. later, the Sangathan sympathizers held a protest meeting and slammed the State Government for its anti-farmer policy.
“As the State Government is responsible for the farmer suicides, it must compensate the deceased farmers’ families. Besides, we demand pension for the farmers of the State,” said Swain.