Farmers Movement Archive

Scholar calls for a sustained protest against amendments to farm laws

HUBBALLI: Linguistic scholar and Padma Shri award recipient GN Devy on Wednesday dubbed the amendments to the APMC Act passed by the central government ‘anti-labourer’ and said that they would only benefit private players and not the common people. Devy was addressing porters from AMPC mandis in Hubballi, who assembled under the banner of APMC Hamali Karmikara Okkuta (R) to protest the amendments. “Once the amended law comes into force, farmers will not come to APMC mandis to sell their produce, which will render those employed at these yards jobless,” he said. The scholar said that porters and other labourers either directly employed at the APMC mandis or depending on them for their subsistence in an indirect way, were only trying to provide for their families and ensure their children received a good education. “But this new law may well compel these labourers to send their kids to work as porters. There is a need for a sustained protest against these amendments across the country,” Devy said. The protesters pointed out that there were more than four lakh porters employed at APMC mandis, Grameen Bazaar, the Mill Godown, et al across the district. “Most of those employed at such places are Dalits and members of backward communities,” they said. General secretary of the okkuta for Karnataka Mahesh Pattar, Basavaneppa Neeralagi, Gurusiddappa Ambiger, Kariyappa Dalawai, Kariyappa Girisagar, Hussainsab Nadaf, Lakshmawwa Hosuri and Khatalsab Mulla were among those who participated in the protest on Wednesday.

The Times of India

2020-09-24

Hubballi