It has been 11 years of harsh waiting, braving the searing heat and the muddy roads, for 71-year-old farmer from Nizamabad district Manohar Reddy to wear his footwear again, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The connection may sound bizarre, but it is related to the establishment of the Turmeric Board in Nizamabad, announced by the Prime Minister during his public meeting in Mahabubnagar on Sunday. It was a promise fulfilled by the BJP after four years, but this man has been waiting to hear this news since 2011 when he decided to walk barefoot until the Board was set up.
This farmer from Palem village in Morthad mandal of Nizamabad district was on a mission to get the Turmeric Board for the benefit of turmeric farmers. A turmeric farmer himself, Mr. Reddy not only vowed to leave aside his footwear on November 4, 2011, but also went on a 63-day padayatra from Ichoda in Adilabad district to the feet of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati with the wish of the Board.
“It’s all God’s grace,” Mr. Reddy said as soon as he heard the news on television. “I have been walking without chappals for 12 years, but somewhere I had a feeling that someday someone would come to the rescue of turmeric farmers,” Unfortunately, today Mr. Reddy doesn’t own any land to cultivate turmeric, as he sold all his land to compensate for losses in a business.
The idea of this unique protest struck him in 2006 when he attended a farmers’ meeting in Armoor called by BJP leader Muralidhar Rao. At that meeting, he realised that they were getting into debt because the investment was ₹46,500 per acre but the returns were only ₹25,000. “Mr. Muralidhar Rao advised us that the only way to get a supportive price and a Board was through an agitation,” Mr. Reddy told The Hindu.
Then he went on an 11-week Deeksha covering Armoor and Balkonda constituencies on foot, earning the nickname of ‘Pasupu Manohar Reddy.’ “Concerned villagers and well-wishers advised me to break my vow and wear chappals seeing my condition. But I believed in God.”
His hope was rekindled when Member of Parliament from Nizamabad Arvind Dharmapuri promised to get the Board during his election campaign. Mr. Reddy, who worked as the sarpanch of his village in 1981, has now received a new pair of chappals from the farmers on Sunday.
