“Gaon Bandh” a call from Haryana

To take part in the Delhi `Gherao’ hundred of farmers from Madhya Pradesh have already reached Palwal in Haryana on Wednesday, February 21 2018. Express photo

At least five farmer organisations in Haryana have given a call of ‘Gaon Bandh’ (village shutdown) under which farmers won’t go to urban areas to sell farm produce such as vegetables, fruits and milk from June 1-June 10. The protest is to press for their demands of loan waiver and 50 per cent margin over cost of production for crops in real terms. Farmers bodies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and many other states have also given similar call as part of the nation wide agitation on the call of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, an umbrella body of over 100 farmers organisations.

“This form of agitation is new for us as farmer groups of MP and Maharashtra have been giving calls for `Gaon Bandh’. We have been staging dharnas and rallies but this time we have also urged Haryana farmers to participate,” said Suresh Koth, president of Bhartiya Kisan Sanghrash Samiti’s Haryana unit. According to Koth, farmers are expressing surprise over this forum of agitation.

However, Bharatiya Kisan Union Haryana unit president Gurnam Singh Chaduni is more confident over the prospects of this form of the stir. “We will stage dharnas near the towns. If any farmer goes to the towns to sell their products we would request them to return to the village and sell the same near the roadside. Urban residents may go to the villages to buy the farm products,” said Chaduni.