Farmers under the aegis of the CPI(M)-led Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham laid siege to the Collectorate here on Monday demanding remunerative price for their produce.
Tension prevailed at the Prakasam Bhavan, the seat of administration, for sometime as the activists tried to gatecrash into the Collectorate. Sensing that the situation was going out of control, Joint Collector-II D.Markandeyulu and Ongole Revenue Divisional Officer K.Srinivasa Rao came out of the Collectorate and pacified the agitators saying a meeting would be organised to look into their demands, including fair price for subabul and eucalyptus logs.
The farmers raised slogans demanding a minimum price of ₹6,000 per quintal of Bengal gram, the main rabi crop grown in the district, whose price was ruling below the minimum support price of ₹4,400 per quintal in the open market.
Though the government had brokered an agreement with paper mills and promulgated an order fixing the sale price for eucalyptus at ₹4,400 per tonne and ₹4,200 per tonne of subabul, the paper mills drove down the prices to about ₹2,000 per tonne, said APRS assistant secretary A.Venkateswarlu.“We will go on an indefinite fast coinciding with Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu's visit to Ongole on July 28 to launch a Dharma Poratam against the Centre,” said APRS-led Kavulu Rythu Sangham district secretary P.Hanumantha Rao.It was unfortunate that farmers were not getting a fair price for almost all crops, said East Prakasam district secretary P.Anjaneyulu.
