Farmers Movement Archive

Grain mandis remain open in Kota, Bundi & Jhalawar

Kota: Farmers and agricultural organizations under the aegis of Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti led a vehicle rally in Kota city, protesting against the new farm bills. They submitted a memorandum in the name of the President to the sub-division magistrate in Kota, demanding to revoke the new bills, terming them to be destructive, anti-farmer and anti-agriculture. Despite the nationwide call for bandh, the markets and grain mandis in Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran districts of Hadauti remained open. However, shops in markets and grain mandis at a few places in the region remained closed. Raising slogans against the new bills, a large number of representatives of various farmers’ organizations and their workers assembled at Chawani Circle in Kota on Friday and led a motorbike rally through Gumanpura, Nayapura to collector’s office where they submitted a memorandum to the SDM in the name of the President, demanding to revoke the newly introduced bills. The newly introduced bills will certainly enslave the farmers and professionals associated with farming and agriculture to the corporate business families and would destroy farming and agriculture in the country, said Dhulichand Bordha, state vice president of Kisan Sabha. The new bills will facilitate corporate houses in buying agricultural produce at their own, wilful lower prices and following their storage, they would sell the produce at higher prices, said Fatehchand Bagla, convener of the Sangharsh Samiti. The farmers’ organizations, backed by various other working and civil forums, will continue to stir against the bills until they are scrapped, he added. Despite the call for Bharat Bandh on Friday, markets, shops and grain mandis in most of the areas across Hadauti region remained open and functioned unaffected. However, markets remained completely closed in Kundanpur village of Sangod area of Kota district. Partial bandh was also reported in Sultanpur, Ramganjmandi, Itawa areas of Kota district, in Mangrole area of Baran district and Bhawanimandi of Jhalawar district. Markets, shops and grain mandis remained open across Kota district. However, bandh was observed at a few places like Kundanpur in Sangod area and partially in Ramganjmandi of the district, said ASP, Kota rural, Paras Jain. Markets remained open and functional in Baran and no protests were witnessed here, said a farmer of Nahargarh area of Baran district. The representatives of labour unions also staged a dharna outside grain mandis at a few places in Hadauti and lodged protest against the bills. At a few places, they burnt the effigy of PM Narendra Modi.

The Times of India

2020-09-26

Jaipur