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Tobacco farmers protest, are detained

The farmers also expressed their displeasure with the disinterest shown by the Government in the past as far as the livelihood issues and the problems faced by them are concerned

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Taking a softer stance on tobacco farmers who were hindering smooth running of ongoing World Health Organization (WHO)- Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) Seventh Convention of Parties (COP7), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would soon convene an inter-ministerial meeting to look into their issues.

“As tobacco farmers were protesting at the event, they were detained by the police on Tuesday. We met them at the police station. We are aware that a strict anti tobacco stance of India is plaguing tobacco growers. Because the tobacco farmers are reaching out to us, we will facilitate their meeting with Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Commerce,” said Arun K Panda, Additional Secretary (Health), Department of Health and Family Welfare.

“We want that their problems be addressed by the right authorities. As far as crop diversification is concerned, Ministry of Agriculture is taking care of this aspect. We can only facilitate farmers’ meeting with the other ministries who can solve their problems in a better way. As COP7 is ongoing, several issues that may be directly or indirectly related to farmers will also be discussed in coming days,” said Panda.

The tobacco farmers while protesting put forward their concerns and grievances before the government and asked for its support against the ongoing deliberations at WHO-FCTC CoP7. The farmers also expressed their displeasure with the disinterest shown by the Government in the past as far as the livelihood issues and the problems faced by them are concerned.

“Our innumerable appeals to various Government ministries and ministry officials have fallen on deaf ears,” Murali Babu, General Secretary, Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA), said.

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