Farmers and street vendors of Somarasampettai on the outskirts of Tiruchi city have called for establishing a daily market in their locality to sell farm produce such as vegetables and fruits.
Hundreds of farmers, particularly women, in 28 villages surrounding Somarasampettai are cultivating vegetables such as brinjal, lady’s finger, tomato, radish, and greens. At present, they are directly involved in selling their farm produce on either side of the road at Vayalur, Somarasampettai, and Nachikurichi.
According to M. R. Murugan, district secretary, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the lack of enough marketing avenues near Somarasampettai has forced the farmers and vendors to occupy the roadside.
Though there is a Government-run weekly market that operates only on Saturday at Thayanur and three other weekly markets in nearby localities, none of them function on a daily basis, says Mr. Murugan, adding that many vendors are being evacuated often from the roadside, citing traffic congestion.
Since much of the farm produce, particularly greens, cultivated in those villages are perishable, the farmers have been demanding for a long time the setting up of a daily market to sell their produce on time, says K. Megharaj, union secretary of the street vendors association.
He has also demanded that the daily market be constructed in one of the many vacant sites under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department in those villages.
Further, they have demanded issuing identity cards to avail benefits under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-SVANidhi), a central sector scheme, that aims to provide small working capital loans for street vendors. To draw the attention of the district administration, the farmers and vendors have planned to hold a protest pressing their demands on October 26.
