Farmers continue to protest against procurement rules

Jind: The farmers on Wednesday continued their protest against the new crop procurement rules for the eighth day. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) office bearers, along with several other organisations, expressed their anger by burning the effigy of agriculture minister Shyam Singh Rana.BKU district president Bindr Numberdar, vice-president Umed Singh Redhu and spokesperson Ramraji Dhull said effigies of ministers or MLAs would be burned daily until the govt withdraws the "arbitrary order".The BKU representatives stated that the govt must withdraw the new crop procurement rules at the earliest. If the rules are not rolled back soon, a major decision will be taken on April 19, and the govt will be responsible for it, they added.The BKU leaders said farmers in the state had suffered heavy losses due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms, and they needed to be compensated. They said the protest would continue until the biometric system was withdrawn.They also said the rest house built for farmers near the market committee office lacked basic facilities. An e-Disha centre has been opened there (rest house), they added.The BKU leaders said if gate passes could be issued manually due to technical issues in the e-procurement portal, then crop procurement should also be carried out manually.The protesters, meanwhile, said the current procurement system was causing them inconvenience. In many places, they said, farmers had to wait for several days. They said the govt must withdraw the decision, otherwise bigger action will follow.MSID:: 130285508 413 |