Farmers hold tractor march in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur

Farmers took out a tractor march and held a dharna in front of the district collectorate in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur on Wednesday in support of their demands

Rudrapur : Farmers took out a tractor march and held a dharna in front of the district collectorate in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur on Wednesday in support of their demands.

Farmers took out a tractor march and held a dharna in front of the district collectorate in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur on Wednesday in support of their demands.

The protest comes at a time when thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, have been camping at the Punjab-Haryana border in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops, pension for farmers and farm labourers and farm loan waiver.

The farmers in Rudrapur reached the collectorate on tractors, shouting slogans as they passed through the streets. They were stopped by the police outside the collectorate, which was heavily barricaded.

The farmers sat on a dharna in front of the collectorate gate and raised their demands.

“We will not step back until our demands are met,” Terai Kisan Union chief Tajendra Singh said. The farmers also submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate, listing their various demands, including control on price rise and removal of GST from essential commodities.

Reduction in central excise duty on petroleum products and cooking gas, relief for senior citizens, women, disabled persons, sportspersons by the Railways and a comprehensive loan waiver scheme are among their other demands.