Farmers staging a demonstration in Mysuru on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM
Expressing solidarity with the ongoing agitation by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) in Delhi, farmers in the district staged a demonstration in Mysuru on Wednesday and sought legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural produce.
A memorandum was also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner in support of their demands. It stated that the SKM represents various farmers’ organisations in the country and has been continuously pressurising the Centre to enact a law to provide legal guarantee for MSP.
The Federation of State Farmers’ Association which led the demonstration, said that there are other demands as well in support of which farmers across the country have been holding demonstrations on a regular basis. But what is disconcerting is that despite prolonged agitation by the farmers stretching to nearly an year, the Centre is yet to take a decision on the demands.
‘Centre’s indifference’
Multiple meetings with Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Shivaraj Singh Chouhan have not yielded any positive results, said Federation Secretary Atahalli Devaraj. “Farmers organisations across the country strongly condemn this indifference of the Centre and urge it to take the farmers protest seriously,” he added.
Reiterating their set of demands, the farmers said that an Act providing legal guarantee for MSP should be passed at the earliest.
Taking into consideration the increasing cost of agricultural inputs, the farmers demanded that the procurement prices fixed for various agricultural produce, should not only be fair but be remunerative to the farmers.
Mr. Devaraj said successive governments have remained silent on the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee Report on agricultural pricing. This is one of the key demands of the agitating farmers and the government should implement the report so as to benefit the cultivators and give a boost to the agricultural sector which is ailing, he added.
Pension for farmers
The federation also listed pension for all farmers 60 years and above, as one of its demands.
On the issue of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane, the farmers said that it does not include harvesting and transportation cost and sought that the sugar mills bear the charges. Besides, the government should ensure that farmers receive timely payments for their produce, said Mr. Devaraj.
Agricultural loans
The farmers also sought improvements to the crop insurance scheme and wanted reforms in agricultural loans disbursed by financial institutions. The tendency to link CIBIL scores to agricultural loans should be dispensed with as farmers’ repayments tend to be irregular at times due to crop loss because of vagaries of nature, explained Mr. Devaraj.
The federation members said the third round of talks between the farmers and the Centre will be held on March 19 and the government should arrive at a final decision pertaining to their demands, failing which protests will be intensified.
Published – March 05, 2025 09:33 pm IST