Withdraw FIRs against us for burning paddy residue: Farmers’ body
Activists of the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) staged a protest demonstration and submitted a memorandum to the district administration, demanding the withdrawal of the FIRs registered against the farmers for burning the paddy crop residue in the state.
‘Govt should take proper mgmt steps’
The government should offer proper steps for paddy residue management. The registration of cases against the farmers across the state and red entries being made on their crop purchase portal have irked them, —
Shamsher Nambardar, AIKS chief
The AIKS activists, led by Shamsher Nambardar gathered, at gate number four of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here today. They marched to the Mini-Secretariat in a procession and staged a protest demonstration to highlight their issue.
The farmer activists submitted a memorandum mentioning their seven demands addressed to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The Tehsildar accepted the memorandum from the protesters.
Nambardar said they had drawn the attention of the government to the issue of environmental pollution and other grievances of the farmers. The state government should take short term and long-term measures to control environmental pollution instead of resorting to crackdown on the farmers for burning the crop residue, he said adding that the entire blame for pollution during the paddy season was being shifted to the farmers which was wrong.
The farmer activist said the Agriculture Department, district administration authorities and other agencies had been targeting the farmers as if pollution was originating from the farmers’ field only. “The government should offer proper steps for paddy residue management. The registration of cases against the farmers across the state and red entries being made on their crop purchase portal has irked them,” he said.
Another activist Sube Singh Booda said the action of FIRs against the farmers was against the agreement of December 9, 2021, between the Central Government and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha. “In point number five, the Central Government has clearly stated that in a stubble burning case, the farmers will be exempted from criminal liability,” he said. They said the cases filed against the farmers in the name of stubble burning should be withdrawn and the farmers should be compensated for the expenses incurred on the paddy residue management.
The Kisan Sabha also raised the issue of shortage of DAP stating that the availability of fertiliser was much less in comparison to the demand of the area sown for rabi crops across the state. Sale of fake fertilisers, seeds and medicines should be banned. They also alleged that the farmers had been facing many difficulties in procurement of kharif crops in the grain markets and urged the government to speed up the procurement of all crops and lifting of crops.
Protest in Fatehabad, too
Sirsa: Hundreds of farmers gathered at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Fatehabad in a protest organised by the All India Kisan Sabha on Monday. They voiced their concerns over the legal cases filed against them for burning crop residue, the alleged rampant looting of their crops in the markets, and the shortage of DAP fertiliser. The farmers directed their anger toward the state government, chanting slogans to highlight their grievances.
Vishnudatt Sharma, the district president of the Kisan Sabha, led the protest and addressed the crowd, emphasising the “unfair” treatment meted to farmers. After the demonstration, the farmers marched to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submitted a letter addressed to the Chief Minister. The Kisan Sabha delegation said the DC assured them that no further legal cases would be pursued regarding crop burning. He also promised that the administration would work to resolve other issues .
