RAJNANDGAON : Even as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is promoting his government’s pro-farmer policies in public rallies in run-up to the assembly elections this month, there is growing resentment among farmers in the state — most visible in his own constituency of Rajnandgaon where farmers’ groups have been holding ‘kisan darbars’ and marches against the government.
Farmers across the state are angry over issues ranging from Minimum Support Prices (MSP) being lower than rates promised by the government, pending bonuses and denied loan waivers in drought and poor rainfall years of 2015 and 2017. The state’s farmers had called for a ‘mahapanchayat’ on October 1 where they called district authorities and public representatives to covey their future agenda for farming community. Farmer leader Sudesh Tikam said nobody turned up, adding, “this shows the government’s priorities.”
The agitating farmers then unanimously, at a ‘kisan darbar’, decided to vote for the candidate who could guarantee his/her agenda for farmers on a stamp paper. Raman Singh is contesting from the Rajnandgaon seat while his son Abhishek Singh is the sitting MP.
“The farmers in the state are becoming labourers due to the anti-farmers’ policy of the government. It is taking away farming land to hand it over to big corporates for mining and setting up big projects,” said Tikam, heading the ‘Zila Kisan Parishad’ in Rajnandgaon.
The majority of the farmers are unhappy with the state government’s “failure” in keeping the promises made by it ahead of the 2013 assembly election. These included providing an MSP of Rs 2,100 per quintal for paddy and a bonus of Rs 300 bonus. The MSP was finally increased to Rs 1,750 in July this year.