Farmers stage dharna at Ara, demand land reforms

Ara: Farmers, trade unions and farm workers' associations on Tuesday staged a dharna in front of Bhojpur DM office demanding implementation of recommendations of D Bandyopadhyay Commission for land reforms.Later, a five-member delegation submitted an 18-point memorandum to the Bhojpur DM, Tanai Sultania. The dharna was presided over by local farmers and trade union leaders, including Madhav Prasad Singh and Bal Mukund Choudhary. Former Agiyaon MLA Manoj Manzil and many other CPI (ML) workers also took part in the dharna.Addressing the gathering, the netas asked the state govt to make the D Bandyopadhyay Commission recommendations public and implement the land reforms in the state. They also demanded a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 for all the elderly farm workers and peasants. "The Anganwadi, ASHA, organised and unorganised workers should get Rs 26,000 per month salary, and under MGNREGA, Rs 600 wages per day must be given for at least 200 days in a year," they demanded.