Hundreds of farmers hit the road in Ghaziabad and Noida on Thursday against the anti-farmer policies of the BJP government.
The Rashtriya Kisan Yatra, under the banner of the Rashtriya Kisan Sangathan (RKS), started from Saharanpur on September 17 with 16 demands, which include increasing the minimum support prices of crops, reduction in diesel and electricity charges and pending sugarcane dues of the farmers.
The RKS is a non-political organisation that works for the upliftment of farmers and farm labour.
The farmers, with their tractors and trolleys, marched towards Noida’s Transport Nagar, leading to traffic snarls in Ghaziabad and Noida. After camping in Transport Nagar overnight, they will attempt to enter Delhi on Friday afternoon.
The Noida police are working with their Delhi counterparts to convince the farmers to give a memorandum and return peacefully. “We are trying to convince the farmers but are not taking any chances in terms of law and order. We have no problem if they march peacefully to Delhi. The problem arises when they try to take their tractor-trolley along or camp on the road. Delhi police doesn’t allow tractors,” said Vineet Jaiswal, SP (City), Noida.
Rajendra Yadav, State RKS president, said that the city magistrate had promised to arrange a meeting with a government representative on Friday. “If the talks fail, we will continue with our march towards Kisan Ghat,” said Mr. Yadav.
All along the march, RKS national president Pooran Singh raised issues that are ailing the farm sector. He said the movements that were conjured up just before the elections were politically motivated. “RKS is dedicated to raising real issues.” He reminded the Uttar Pradesh government of its promise to pay the dues of sugarcane farmers within 14 days of coming to power. He also criticised the Opposition parties for not raising farmers’ issues.
