Friday 05 April 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has stated that the farmers of the State whose dues are not cleared by brokers will not vote in this Lok Sabha election. The head of the BKU Somdutt Sharma said that they have been calling for the timely payment to farmers by brokers at the Niranjanpur Mandi for several months now, but the brokers have repeatedly ignored their requests. In the past, this had led to incidents where the Mandi gates were blocked. Despite meeting with the Agriculture minister and other authorities, no action has been taken by them regarding the due payments, he added.
Sharma further informed that recently, a meeting was organised in the Mandi secretary’s office where farmers and Mandi officials were called but none of the Mandi officials attended the meeting. As a result, all the farmers have decided to stage a protest outside the Agriculture minister’s residence if all the commission due to the farmers is not cleared by April 5. He further stated that if the payment is still not made after the protest, all the farmers may resort to taking extreme steps like committing suicide.
The farmers have also expressed concern that the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha election is being cited by the authorities, he said. However, if the farmers’ dues are not cleared by the brokers, they have decided not to vote in this parliamentary election, he added.
