PARTIAL IMPACT OF GAON BANDH AGITATION ON DAY 1

KARNAL/CHANDIGARH: The first day of the 10-day-long farmers’ agitation did not have much impact in Haryana on the availability of vegetables and milk, the supply of which, farmers had threatened to stop.

Protesting under the banner of Rastriya Kisan Maha Sangh (RKMS), the farmer unions on Friday started their gaon bandh (shut down villages) strike to press their demands, including loan waiver and right price for crops.

According to reports, the strike did not evoke good response on the first day. The agitating farmers were unable to put a complete check over the supply of milk in cities even as farmer union leaders visited villages, appealing farmers to join the strike.

However, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president and member of the RKMS, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, said the strike received a good response on the first day and hoped that in next one and two day, the message will spread across all villages of the state.

“We are visiting farmers and they are positive about the strike and we will manage to put a complete check on the sale of vegetables and milk in the cities,” he said.

The consumers may feel the heat of the strike in the coming days.

“We didn’t collect the milk on Friday as the drivers of the pick-up vans refused to transport it to the cities,” Prem Chand, a dairy farmer of Yamunanagar said.

This is the peak season for harvesting of tomato, cucumber, capsicum, bitter gourd, lady’s finger, gourd, brinjal and ridge gourd.

“We could not sell tomato in the market today due to the strike of the farmers. This will cause losses to vegetable growers,” Rajkumar, a farmer of Ladwa in Kurukshetra, said.