Local farmers have led the protests in their respective areas. It is a matter of concern that the government is not living up to its promise, says Sagar Rabari
Farmers of Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Ahmedabad staged protests across various parts of state on Tuesday claiming that Gujarat government has stopped procurement of groundnut after elections.
They say that BJP government had announced that it would procure groundnut at a price of Rs900 per 20 kg, while the market rate was about Rs600-650 per 20 kg. If farmers have to sell in open market, they would have to suffer losses, they say.
Atul Shekhda, a leading farmer of Khedut Sangharsh Samiti of Junagadh district in Saurashtra submitted a memorandum to the office of a local Mamlatdar on Tuesday. "There is virtually no buying at the markets. Authorities complain that there are not enough sacks, so they are not able to buy. There is hardly any buying after voting ended in Gujarat," he claimed.
The protest was the most severe in Kalavad in Jamnagar district where farmers staged a road blockade. Their leader Ramdevsinh Jadeja said that farmers are returning empty handed from Haripar Sewa Sahkari Mandali as government's buying of groundnut has stopped under one pretext or the other.
"It is an endless wait for the farmers, who had registered with the government to sell groundnut at MSP. Local market authorities are buying out-of-turn from traders, but not farmers. The market price of groundnut now is in the range of Rs 600-650 and many traders have bought at this price from us. Now they are selling at MSP at the same markets but farmers, who have been waiting for months together, do not get the chance to sell their produce," said Jadeja.
Except for Surendranagar district in Saurasthra, all the other districts have witnessed groundnut buying coming to a grinding halt.
"Local farmers have led the protests in respective areas. It is a matter of concern that the government is not living up to its promise," said Sagar Rabari, Secretary of Khedut Samaj – Gujarat.
RTI activist and founder of farmers' organisation 'Kranti' Bharatsinh Jhala said that even MSPs do not meet the cost of cultivation of crops of farmers and the prices should be higher in order to ensure that farmers get remunerative price and food security of the country is not compromised.
"We have suggested a price of Rs1,200 per 20 kg for groundnut, Rs1,600 per 20 kg for cotton, Rs 3,500 per 20 kg for jeera. Input cost and inflation factors should be considered while determining the farm prices. But this is not happening," said Jhala.
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