The nation-wide Kisan Mukti Yatra that began in July with the twin demands of guaranteed remunerative prices for all crops and freedom from debt for all cultivators will be entering South India from Hyderabad on September 16.
The Yatra is being organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) comprising over 160 farmers’ organisations that came onto a common platform. About 25 farmers’ organisations and people’s organisations are jointly organising this yatra in Telangana from September 16 to 23.
Prof. Kodandaram of Telangana Joint Action Committee, S. Malla Reddy of All India Kisan Sabha, Kiran Kumar Vissa of Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Ravi Kanneganti of Telangana Rythu JAC, said that farmers across the country were coming on to the roads as they realised that the government policies and failures were behind the crisis in agriculture. Both AP and Telangana had seen chilli, red gram farmers suffering losses due to steep fall in prices.
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Several of the 18-member national working committee — V.M.Singh, Yogendra Yadav, Raju Shetty, Dr. Sunilam, Kavitha Kuruganti would participate in the second phase yatra. A bus yatra would be flagged off at Gun Park and a public meetings would be held at Suryapet and Khammam on September 16.
Prof Kodandaram and others said that Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were among the top five States in the country in farmer suicides. Freedom from debt would be the rallying cry for farmers in the three States. In both AP and Telangana, political parties came to power by promising crop loan waiver and turned it into a farce. As banks refused to provide fresh loans in the last four years, farmers continued to borrow from private money lenders.