Unable to buy a pair of oxen due to acute poverty, a farmer from the home district of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has been using his two minor daughters in place of the oxen to pull the plough for the last two years.
As a shocking video of Radha, 13 and Kunti, 9, roped in the plough in place of the oxen to furrow the field by their 42-year-old father Sardar Barela in Bastanpur Pangari village, some 60 kms away from the district headquarters, went viral, an embarrassed district administration rushed a revenue official to the farmer yesterday.
Besides being the home district of the chief minister, Sehore is a part of Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency being represented by senior BJP leader and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Shockingly, Barela has been using his daughters for ploughing for the last two years.
“As I don’t have money to buy bulls, I have no option but to ask my daughters to pull the plough who have been doing it for the last two years,” Barela told PTI.
The hapless farmer said neither he had money to educate Radha and Kunti, nor was he able to reap the benefits of the beneficial schemes of the government.
After the video of Barela and his daughters ploughing the field went viral, the district authorities have appealed to the farmer to stop the practice.
“After the incident came to our knowledge, we rushed officials to the village. We will ensure that Barela gets the benefit of the government schemes,” said district PRO Ashish Sharma.
Madhya Pradesh, hit by a spate of suicides by farmers, recently witnessed massive protests by peasants demanding a complete loan waiver and better remuneration for their produce. Though the government had announced various measures to placate farmers, it has shied away from announcing the loan waiver.
During the protest held last month, five farmers were killed in the police firing in Mandsaur.
