The protest of farmers in the district against the government’s delay in fixing paddy procurement spilled on to the road here on Tuesday with different groups resorting to different styles of agitation.
Protests were held in front of the Collectorate, Supplyco office as well as Local Administration Minister M.B. Rajesh’s house.
While the Youth Congress protested in front of the Collectorate by symbolically measuring paddy, the Karshaka Congress picketed the Supplyco office here.
Farmers under the banner of the Rashtriya Kisan Maha Sangh (RKMS) took out a march to the Minister’s house at Kadamkode, near here. The police stopped the march on the way.
Inaugurating the march, RKMS State chairman Binoy Thomas said that the agitation would continue until the government took a decision on paddy procurement. He warned that the RKMS would extend the agitation to the Secretariat by involving farmers from across the State.
The RKMS blamed the government for not considering rice mills of Tamil Nadu when the mill owners in Kerala refused to cooperate with the government proposal. It also alleged that the government was acting in collusion with the private rice mill owners.
RKMS State vice chairman Muthalamthodu Mani presided over the function. National coordinator K.V. Biju delivered the keynote address.
Farmers’ miseries
Inaugurating the Youth Congress protest, Shafi Parambil, MLA, reminded the government of the miseries being heaped on the farmers as their harvested paddy went begging. He demanded a permanent solution for the problem.
Presiding over the function, Youth Congress district president T.H. Firos Babu said that the government was deliberately delaying the procurement process with the intention of helping the private rice mills. “The government is forcing the farmers to sell paddy for a price below ₹20 to private mills,” he said.
Youth Congress leaders K.M. Febin, Sajesh Chandran, Palayam Pradeep, Prasobh Vatsan, Vinod Cherad, Pradeep Nenmara, Rohit Krishnan, C. Vishnu, Ratheesh Pudusseri, and C. Nikhil were among those who spoke.
MP’s warning
V.K. Sreekandan, MP, inaugurated the Karshaka Congress agitation in front of the Supplyco office. He demanded that the government end its unholy truck with private rice mill owners. “If you can’t ensure immediate procurement of paddy, the Ministers in charge Civil Supplies and Agriculture should quit their positions. Let the Chief Minister handle the crisis,” he said.
Mr. Sreekandan warned that Ministers would be blocked on the road if the government failed to start procurement in two days.
Karshaka Congress district president B. Iqbal presided over the function. State general secretary T.C. Varghese, other leaders C. Swaminathan, V. Aravindakshan, A. Mohandas, and Firosh Babu spoke.
