With demand of waiver of agriculture loans, the farmers in Gujarat poured down large quantity of milk on road at different parts of the State on Wednesday.
The protest was supported by members of Thakor Sena headed by OBC Ekta Manch leader Alpesh Thakor. The farmers have given ultimatum to waive their loans till July 4, 2017. As the State Government didn’t do anything, the farmers decided to start agitation.
Posed as Famers, members of Thakor’s outfit assembled at Sarkhej — Gandhinagar Road in Ahmedabad and in the afternoon and spilled large quantity of milk. The police detained Alpesh and others who tried to block the busy road. later on, he claimed that the farmers had stopped supplying milk in market for couple of day.
‘’We have planned a march from Sabarmati Ashram to Gandhinagar. If the State Government would not take our demand seriously more demonstration would be staged in coming days,’’ he said.
In North Gujarat town Palanpur farmers took out air from tyres of vehicles carrying milk to a local dairy. Protests were staged in Mehsana and other parts of the state, mostly supported by Thakor Sena.
It is worth mentioning that State Governments in Punjab, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have already waived agriculture loans. In fact, agitating farmers are trying to copy the agitation staged in neighbouring Maharashtra last month where famers spilled milk in large quantity on the roads and went on strike.
Sources said that the agitating farmers are mulling to stop supply of grains and vegetables in the market in coming days if their demand would not be accepted by the State Government. Till Wednesday evening, in around 100 towns farmers have given memorandum to the competent authorities for waiver of agriculture loans in the State. Apart from loan waiver, the farmers are also demanding higher prices of their agriculture produces, 24x7 electricity and subsidy of Rs 3 per litre in milk.
Sources in the State Government claimed that the agitation was completely failure as apart from scattered protests that to by Thakor Sena workers, farmers at large didn’t joined as milk supply to dairies across Gujarat continued and availability of milk in the market was usual.