Farmer group to hold nationwide protest against govt through social media campaigns

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has announced on Monday that they will raise their demands before the government through social media campaigns from across the country.

New Delhi: The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has alleged that in this difficult situation there has been no shortage of food items due to the farmers of the country, but they are not being given due respect for this.

The AIKSCC is constituted of more than 250 farmer organizations across the country and it alleged that during this nationwide lockdown period, the government has consistently ignored the problems of farmers.

Following this, the AIKSCC has announced on Monday that they will raise their demands before the government through social media campaigns from across the country.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, the AIKSCC's National convenor, Sardar BM Singh said, "The farmer also stood in the front line in the fight against Corona, but the government has so far ignored them. The farmers had faced difficulties due to the sudden lockdown at the time of harvesting because it was not possible to work for the farmers and labourers following the rules of social distancing."

"Despite all the adverse circumstances, there is no shortage of food grains or food items anywhere in the country. It is the result of the hard work of the farmers that there is enough food in the country today, but the farmers are not getting any recognition from the government, whereas they should have been recognised as food warriors," Singh said.

"Following this, the AIKSCC has announced to launch a campaign to organise nationwide protests through social media with their demands. The organisation has also called upon the farmers and agricultural labourers across the country to unite," Singh added.

According to sources, a meeting of farmer representatives from all over the country was held through the video conference. In which many issues have been discussed. The damage caused by the lockdown after the Corona crisis and the loss of rabi crops due to untimely rains.

Farmer representatives say that the government has also failed to buy farmers' produce at the prescribed MSP. Due to the lack of proper weighing facilities in many mandis, farmers are not getting the adequate price of their products, sources said.

Although during the time of lockdown, the government announced several exemptions for the agriculture sector from time to time and also talked about procurement through e-mandis, the farmers' organizations are adamant on their demands.

Reportedly, on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting for the agriculture sector and discussed several topics with the ministers.

Notably, the government claims that 80% of the mandis across the country are open in the month of May and a target has been set by the Ministry of Agriculture to link 1000 e-NAM portal. According to government statistics, 785 mandis across the country have been linked to e-NAM so far.