Kisan Sabha threatens statewide protest on June 1 | Times of India

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has threatened to conduct a statewide farmers’ march on June 1, similar to the one it had held in February, to protest against the government’s “indifference” towards the promises made to farmers.

More than 20,000 farmers had walked from Nashik to Mumbai in February seeking redressal of their grievances. AIKS workers plan to tour at least 24 districts affected by farm distress in the run up to June 1 protest during which they aim to spread awareness among farmers.

Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday, AIKS general secretary Ajit Navale said, “The farmers will gherao government offices in order to send a stern message to those who are at the helm of affairs in the state and at the Centre. The government has so far failed to act on its promises.”

“The government had promised setting up of three separate committees to look into the issues of loan waiver, implementation of forest rights for tribal farmers and fair price for farm produce. But even after a month, no concrete step has been taken,” he said.

“We aim to collect signatures of over 20 lakh farmers from 24 districts and also inform them about their rights and how government was not paying attention to their issues,” Navale said.

Asked whether AIKS has approached the government for discussion on these issues, Navale said, “We didn’t receive any positive response from minister Girish Mahajan whenever we approached him with our problems.”

Blaming the BJP-led central government, he said, the Union government too has failed miserably in resolving farmers’ issues. “The government was supposed to form a sugar cane price regulatory committee. Also, a separate committee was to handle loan waiver matters of farmers. But nothing has been so far been done in this regard,” Navale said.

Source: Kisan Sabha threatens statewide protest on June 1 | Pune News – Times of India