Farmers’ stir fails to make dent, limited to a handful of districts
MUMBAI: The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS) along with 11 other farmer outfits on Thursday organised demonstrations and raasta roko at several places in the state but failed to make any big impact as the protests were limited to some districts. The supporters held protests at Ahmednagar, Sangli, Nashik and Pune districts. The outfit said the protest will intensify on June 10, which is also the last day of their agitation.
They will try to hold chakka jam across Maharashtra on that day.
“We have held protests that include raasta roko and demonstrations at several places in the state. Some farmers even chose to throw their vegetable on roads in Sangli. The districts that were impacted the most were Ahmednagar, Sangli, Nashik and parts of Pune,” said Ajit Nawale, general secretary, ABKS.
He added, “As we had already decided that intensifying the agitation doesn’t mean use of force or aggression, there were no incidents of forcibly blocking supplies of the essential commodities. We want farmers to join the protest voluntarily and are hoping that it will be intensified from tomorrow onwards’’.
Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM) is already holding a 10-day countrywide farmers strike since June 1.
Meanwhile, Swabhimani Paksha headed by farmers' leader Raju Shetti demanded a special session of the Parliament to discuss and resolve issues of the agrarian community.
Shetti said the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a coalition of over 190 farmer organisations, has prepared two private member bills — Farmers Freedom from Indebtedness Bill 2018 and Farmers’ Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Price for Agricultural Commodities Bill 2018, which will act as permanent solution to the farmers’ problem.