Activists of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) staged a protest in the city on Thursday demanding the Central government to keep agriculture produce and dairy sector out of the purview of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact.
Addressing the protest meet, K.T. Gangadhar, working president of KRRS, said that the RCEP pact between members of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six other countries including India would prove detrimental to the Indian agriculture sector.
Expressing apprehension that the RCEP pact would result in import of agriculture produces at cheap prices, he said that this would pave way for decline in the demand for locally grown agriculture produces and a slump in their prices. When the country has attained self-sufficiency in production of foodgrains, opening the Indian market for import of agriculture produces is an absurd and illogical move, he said.
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Mr. Gangadhar said that in the past, the price of arecanut and other plantation crops had declined owing to cheap imports under various free trade pacts. The arecanut growers are staring at a similar slump in the price owing to the RCEP pact. Referring to the ire expressed by the farmers engaged in animal husbandry against RCEP, he said that more than eight crore families in India are dependent on dairy farming for their livelihood and if imports of milk products is allowed under the trade pact, they will loose their livelihood.
The protesters also staged a road blockade near MRS Circle for sometime to express their ire against the pact. Functionaries of KRRS Yashwanth Rao Ghorpade, D.V. Veeresh, S.H. Manjunath, and Mohan took part in the protest.