As many as 15000 farmers came out on streets, marching from Master Canteen to Lower PMG in Bhubaneshwar, demanding that the state budget should make necessary provisions to pay pension of Rs. 5000 per month to farmers of the state. They also demanded allocation of Rs. 21,600 crore in the state budget to this end.

The farmers have been brought together by the organisation, Navnirman Krishak Sangathan (NKS) and are demanding an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy to Rs. 3000 per quintal from the present meagre sum of Rs. 1550.

Farmers in Odisha have been organising rallies, movements and demonstrations during the past five years for good prices, prestige and pension for farmers in the state.

“Demands of farmers are almost similar across the country. Not only in Maharashtra, peasants from Kutch to Arunachal and Kashmir to Kanyakumari will come out soon protesting the government’s lackadaisical attitude in solving the problems of the farming community” said Akshaya Kumar, the NKS convenor.
Sangtahan members have decided to continue their peaceful protest at the Lower PMG till their demands are met.

Seshadev Nanda, co-ordinator of the farmer body said, “We are fighting for 36 lakh marginal and small farmers of the state. The government has to give pension to the peasants to bail them out from the dangerous web of loan and crop loss”

Nanda also said that the state government has to give priority to agriculture sector by constructing irrigation points and canals. He added that the government needs to strengthen infrastructure and create opportunities for farmers to make agricultural activities a profitable business. Farmers also say that this struggle is a struggle for human dignity and will be fought at any cost.

Though Anand Prasad Satpathy, the government’s chief whip, said that his government is taking all measures to help the farmers of the state, the protesters have alleged that despite them being on strike for the last three days, no one from the state government has come to meet the farmers. “If they don’t listen to our valid demands, we will intensify our struggle and on March 16, we will launch a Satyagraha in front of each district head-quarter” said Akshaya Kumar.
 
*** Images courtesy Navnirman Krishak Sangathan
 

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Over 150 farmers from Gujarat’s Palanpurdistrict have threatened self-immolation.  These farmers, hailing from the flood-hit areas of Ratangadh village of Kankrejtaluka in Banaskantha have made the threat of self-immolation over non-payment relief compensation, by the government.In a letter sent to district collector DilipRana, the farmers threatened to immolate themselves at the collectorate premises in Palanpur in the first week of April if their demand for compensation for erosion of land due to flood was not met by March 31.

The farmers stated that despite several reminders and request nothing had been done. This is in a state held up for the ‘Gujarat model’ of development. The Times of India quotes Dinesh Chaudhary, a farmer from Ratangadh, said, “On October 16 last year, we had given a memorandum to the collector bringing to notice about corruption in survey of compensation work for deciding the amount. We personally requested the officials but they turned deaf ears to our pleas.”

“A team of officials comprising gramsevak, revenue talati and a survey team visited the village but they considered just 10 rich farmers who had political backing while poor farmers were ignored,” the letter stated.
 
Odisha Farmers Demands: Their demands include, among others, the allocation of Rs 21,600 crore in the state budget for aRs 5,000 pension a month to each poor farmer in Odisha, which has 55 lakh farmers, of which 36 lakh are poor and marginal ones.

Protesting under the aegis of NavnirmanKrushakSangathan (NKS), the farmers came in a procession staged a protest near the assembly in Bhubaneswar. They also demanded a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3,000 per quintal from the current Rs 1,550. “The state government can give a bonus of Rs 500 on every quintal of paddy procured. We also urge the government to waive the farm loan,” said NKS national coordinator Akshaya Kumar.

Talking about the Maharashtra protests, Kumar said, “The demands of farmers are similar across the country. Not only Maharashtra, farmers from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir to Kanyakumari will also rise in protest against the government’s indifference to their problems.”
 

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