Second day of farmers protest; supply of veggies, milk largely affected
Farmers continued to dump vegetables, milk on roads and blocked supplies to cities.
Mumbai: With the farmers' agitation entering its second day on Saturday, the impact on retail prices of vegetables was seen in various cities across the country.
As part of the 10-day agitation starting from Friday, the farmers stopped supply of vegetables, fruits, milk and other items to various cities against the alleged anti-farmer policies of the Centre.
In North India, prices of vegetables at various cities in Punjab, Haryana soared in the range of Rs 10-20 per kg on the second day, forcing consumers in cities to shell out more.
According to traders in Chandigarh, the price of tomatoes soared to Rs 20-25 per kg against Rs 10-15 per kg prevailing two days back.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh described the ongoing protest by farmers as a "sign of their desperation in the face of the wrongs being perpetrated on them by the central government".
Farmers continued to dump vegetables, milk on roads and blocked supplies to cities.
However, farmers in Madhya Pradesh came up with a novel idea to protest against the Centre's policies.
Instead of pouring milk on roads, farmers in Mandsaur prepared 'Kheer' and distributed it among the villagers. They too, like other farmers, are not supplying vegetables, fruits, grains and milk to cities.
In Maharashtra's Nashik, the arrival of vegetables at various market committees and collection of milk in the district was affected.
"All milk dairies in the district are closed and collection centres for milk has been affected. Agitating farmers poured milk on the roads at Visapur in Yeola taluka on Saturday morning. The arrival of vegetables at APMC is also low," said Raju Desale, working president of the All India Kisan Sabha.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari blamed the global economic situation and surplus production for farmers' woes and assured that the Centre is working on "a war footing" to solve their problems.
Gadkari said, "This is an old issue, not a new one. The government is working on a war footing by formulating mid- and long-term policies as well as exporting excess produce."
The farmer organisations have been demanding minimum income guarantee scheme, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report and waiver of farmers' debt.
(With PTI inputs)