Shimla: Holding the state government responsible for being unable to provide fertilizers to the farming community, the communist affiliated Himachal Kisan Sabha (HKS) has threatened to agitate by holding protest demonstrations throughout the state on Monday.
Speaking to the media, Kuldeep Tanwar, president HKS said, the sabha is going to protest demonstrate in over 3 dozen centres which include district headquarters, sub-divisions and blocks over the government failure to timely meet the farmers demand for seed and fertilizers.
“A memorandum for the chief minister would also be handed over to officers where the demonstrations are held,†he added.
Initially the horticulture minister Narinder Bragta as well as the agriculture minister, who happens to be the state chief minister had denied any shortage of seeds for the rabi crop or any fertilizers but now they are trying to pass on the blame onto the central government, said Tikender Panwar, vice-president of the sabha.
The government owes and explanation for attempting to hoodwink the people, and failing to make timely arrangements for meeting the demand, he said. Unavailability of seeds has resulted in large tracts of farmlands not being sown, claimed Panwar.
Pointing out the hardships being faced by the farming community, Tanwar said that drought conditions had badly affected the last three crops, reducing productivity by as much as 70 % of rabi and 80 % of kharif. Compounding their problems was shortages of seed and fertilizer, this season, he added.
Reducing the ration quota from 35 Kg to 25 Kg through the public distribution system for the common man had severely brought down nutrition levels, they alleged.
Touching upon other issues, the sabha has demanded that encroachment by small and marginal farmers needed to be regularized at the earliest as the BJP government had gone back on its commitment made in its previous term to do so for which it had even invited applications.
Accusing the government of a partisan approach, Tanwar said that in the last decade, more than 10 thousand hectare land has been handed over to big industries for opening private universities or constructing hydel projects.
The century old timber distribution (TD) rights had been overturned to pave the way for forest mafia and richer sections to gain control of the natural resource, said the Sabha leaders. Implementation of the forest tribal and dwellers act that was being diluted needed to be ensured. Simian menace continues to haunt farmlands and the government has failed to act responsibly.
Sanjay Chauhan, treasure of the sabha said that the Kheti Bachao Sangarsh Samiti would organize a Jan Sansad ‘Peoples Parliament’ on 10th December and would hold protest demonstrations on 23rd December and on the other hand to stall privatization of the Gumma carton factory in Kotkahi, Fruits and Vegetable Producers Mahasangh would protest on 22nd December.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
