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BKU leads tiranga tractor yatras, raises farmers’ issues
As the BKU’s tiranga tractor yatras culminated in panchayats at the offices of the respective district magistrates, the participants raised issues pertaining to farmers and villagers.
Led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait) leaders, thousands of farmers took out tiranga tractor yatras in districts of the Meerut region on Friday in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations.
As the BKU’s tiranga tractor yatras culminated in panchayats at the offices of the respective district magistrates, the participants raised issues pertaining to farmers and villagers. The BKU leaders and farmers handed over memorandums to officials to resolve their issues.
Addressing one such gathering here, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait’s son Charan Singh Tikait raised issues of free electricity for irrigation, stray animals and demanded their immediate resolution. Starting from Muzaffarnagar, the yatra reached Urja Bhavan in Meerut after passing through the villages of Sardhana and Mawana tehsils here.
“We shall celebrate 76 years of independence a few days later and the farmers decided to celebrate the occasion through the yatra and raise their issues,” said BKU youth wing president Gaurav Tikait, who led the yatra in Bulandshahr. Gaurav Tikait is the son of BKU chief Naresh Tikait. The government was paying no heed to multiple problems faced by farmers, Gaurav Tikait said. “Contrary to the announcement of free electricity for irrigation, the state government is installing meters on tubewells. Stray animals are ruining crops,” he said. Raising the issue of damage caused by floods, he accused insurance companies of depriving farmers and flood victims of appropriate compensation.
Stating that flood caused widespread damage in Muzaffarnagar, he said, “One may be surprised to know that officials have fixed a compensation of only ₹8.64 lakh for such widespread damage.” .Gaurav Tikait said more such campaigns would be launched to draw the government’s attention to farmers’ issues. Similar yatras were taken out in Baghpat, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Hapur, Amroha, Sambhal, Shamli and other districts of the region. Hundreds of farmers took out a yatra from Garhi village to the collectorate in Bijnor and demanded an end to leopard attacks on farmers in the district. Farmer leaders also opposed categorising tractors as commercial vehicles and demanded that they should be exempted from the ban on over 10-year-old diesel vehicles.
