Beopar Mandal backs protesting bajra farmers; INLD to raise issue in House

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, October 21

The INLD and the Haryana Pradesh Beopar Mandal (HPBM) today extended support to the indefinite relay fast being jointly observed by commission agents and farmers at the local grain market for the past five days against non-procurement of bajra. The Congress has already lent its support to the protest.

Leader of the Opposition and INLD leader Abhay Chautala said the demands of the protesters are genuine and they would raise the issue in the coming session of the Vidhan Sabha to compel the BJP government to procure the entire bajra crop. HPBM president Bajrang Dass Garg said traders would not hesitate to come on the streets if their demands were not accepted soon.

Earlier, Chautala reached the grain market and met the protesting commission agents and farmers. He criticised Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar for non-procurement of bajra even in his home district. He said the government was bent upon ruining farmers, who would teach Dhankar and other BJP leaders a lesson in the next Assembly elections.

Chautala called upon farmers to expand their agitation to pressure the government. He asked them to put up boards outside their villages with a message that ministers and BJP MLAs are not welcome. “This is the best way to convey your message and farmers connected with the Dadupur-Nalwa canal project have already done this in their villages after the government denotified the project land instead of awarding them the enhanced compensation for their land acquired for the purpose,” he added.

Chautala decried the government for not implementing the Supreme Court’s verdict on the SLY canal even after about a year and forcibly deducting the premium amount from the farmers’ bank accounts in the name of the Prime Minister Fasal Beema Yojana (PMFBY).

Garg said the government was doing injustice with farmers by not procuring their bajra. “Farmers are already passing through a crisis and the government is adding to their woes by not buying their crops,” he added.