Laksar: Ahead of the proposed farmers’ protest at the Laksar tehsil headquarters on September 1, office-bearers of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Uttarakhand, Haridwar unit, on Monday held a series of street-corner meetings across villages to mobilise farmers for the demonstration.
Organisation minister Sukarm Pal Rana, district minister Dr Azad Singh and Laksar block president Gorakh Singh visited Mundakheda Kalan, Akodha Khurd, Auspur, Old and New Ismailpur and other villages. They appealed to farmers to participate in large numbers in the protest scheduled to begin at 11am at the tehsil premises.
During the outreach programme, farmers also raised several local issues, including alleged irregularities in land records and law-and-order concerns.
Vimal Saini, a resident of Mundakheda Kalan, alleged that a robbery took place at the house of Prem Saini, son of Vishambhar Saini, between around 11pm on August 30 and 2am on August 31. According to him, the intruders allegedly took away Rs 65,000 in cash and jewellery after entering the house. A complaint has been registered at Laksar police station.
At Kabulpuri Raighati, Khileram Saini alleged that the name of a resident of Rishikesh was mistakenly entered in his land records around eight years ago due to a computer-related error. He claimed that despite repeated attempts, the revenue records have not yet been corrected.
At a meeting in Ismailpur, farmers demanded free electricity for agricultural purposes in Uttarakhand on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. They also sought an increase in the sugarcane procurement price to Rs 600 per quintal and milk price to Rs 100 per litre.
Other demands included strict action against adulteration, compensation for crop losses caused by wild animals, an increase in the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi in line with inflation, and an early assessment and compensation for crops damaged by heavy rainfall and flooding.
Farmers claimed that the recent weather-related damage had affected nearly 50% of sugarcane and paddy crops and around 90% of fodder and vegetable crops in the area.
Rana said farmers would have to remain united to ensure that their concerns received due attention from the administration and government. He urged farmers to reach the Laksar tehsil premises at 11am on September 1 and make the proposed demonstration successful.
Pradeep Saini, Sunder Singh, Sultan Singh, Chinu Bhagat, Praveen Patrakar, Prem Saini and Avnish were among those present during the meetings.