The plight of farmers remained unchanged in Telangana even more than three years after formation of the separate state as they continued to reel under the crippling effects of agrarian crisis and falling prices of agriculture produce, said Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman M Kodandaram.
He was speaking at a huge public meeting organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) at Pavilion Grounds here on Saturday night.
The public meeting was organised to mark the arrival of the nation-wide Kisan Mukti Yatra in the town.
The yatra is being spearheaded by the AIKSCC, a pan-India body comprising more than 160 farmers’ organisations, demanding remunerative prices for farm produce and relieving farmers from all kinds of debt burden.
Addressing the public meeting, Mr Kodandaram alleged that several farmers were handcuffed for raising their voice against steep fall in prices of chilli at the local market yard in Khammam a few months ago.
He alleged that farmers’ coordination committees were being constituted on nomination basis with “political motives” and were devoid of proper representation to the farmers.
Terming the Kisan Mukti Yatra a historic united movement of farmers’ organisations across the country, he lauded the mass movements by farmers’ organisations in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and several other States to safeguard the interests of farmers.
Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav called upon farmers to participate in large numbers in the public meeting to be organised in New Delhi on November 20 to raise the voices of millions of farmers in unison demanding implementation of MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations and concrete measures to alleviate farmers’ woes.
Speakers representing various farmers’ organisations slammed the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allegedly failing to address the “growing distress” among farmers and prevent “farmers' suicides” in various parts of the country.
Leaders of the constituent organisations of the AIKSCC, including Raju Shetty, Kavitha Kurugant, V M Singh, and S Malla Reddy, spoke.
