E-Paper
Will launch ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ if demands not met by Aug 16: HP apple growers
During the meeting, the farmers had submitted a 20-point demand charter to the government and 10-day deadline to fulfil their demands
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over two dozen farmers’ groups, on Saturday said that it would launch a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ from August 17 if the Himachal government fails to meet its 20-point demands and resolve the issue.
Thousands of apple growers under the banner of SKM had staged a vehement protest outside state secretariat in Shimla on August 5, forcing the government to invite them for talks.
During the meeting, the farmers had submitted a 20-point demand charter to the government and 10-day deadline to fulfil their demands.
“We will launch a Jail Bharo stir if the government failed to fulfil our demand within the 10-day deadline,” said SKM convener Harish Chauhan.
He said that Friday protest had put the government under pressure and that is why it agreed for talks. “However, neither the chief minister nor any other minister take part in the talks, which reflects this government’s seriousness on the issues concerning farmers,” he added.
He said the meeting was chaired by chief secretary wherein the 20-point demand charter already submitted to the chief minister on July 28 was discussed again.
SKM’s co-convener and former Shimla mayor Sanjay Chauhan said the officials could not give an assurance on implementing various demands of the farmers.
“They were not able to give a satisfactory reply to the questions raised by the SKM representatives and sought 10 days’ time to explore the possibilities to implement all the demands,” he said.
After talks with the government, a meeting of SKM was held and it has been decided that if the government does not accept these demands by August 16, then a Jail Bharo Andolan will be launched from August 17.
Implementation of the market intervention scheme (MIS) on the analogy of Jammu and Kashmir, rollback of GST on packaging material, restoration of old subsidy scheme on pesticides and fungicides and implementation of APMC Act in letter and spirit were some of the key demands of farmers’ unions.
Chauhan said during the July 28 meeting, the chief minister had assured to accept all the demands, but nothing was done that is why the farmers have chosen the protest path.
