An indefinite agitation being staged by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in front of the District Collectorate here seeking justice for the paddy farmers entered the 42nd day on Wednesday.
The protestors have been demanding that the State government pay the farmers for the paddy procured from them months ago. Thousands of paddy farmers are yet to get the payment for the second crop paddy procured by the Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco).
Marking the 40th day of the protest, the RJD took out a march from the Head Post Office to the Collectorate on Monday. Inaugurating the march, Karshaka Congress State secretary E.M. Babu warned the government against pushing the farmers into suicide.
RJD district general secretary A. Vincent said that the State government had no reasonable excuse for delaying the farmers’ payment for months. He said 50,000-odd farmers in Palakkad were yet to get their cash for the paddy procured from them.
“The farmers are in dire straits. The first crop season has already begun, and the farmers are forced to borrow money to pay up the labour in the initial phase of the first crop,” said Mr. Vincent.
He said that when the farmers were made to wait for four months, the rice mill owners were making gains by selling the rice within weeks in the market. He said a big racket was functioning in the name of paddy procurement.
RJD district vice president K.J. Francis, district secretaries M.M. Varghese, R. Suryaraj, Mahila Janata State general secretary Noufiya Naseer, Mahila Janata district president S. Vijayalakshmi, RJD district committee members Hamza Chemmanam, K.U. Irshad, Firos Chirakkad, and Nilavarnisa Rafi spoke. RJD leader Vaikam Sasi Varma presided over the function. Kisan Janata district vice president M. Chellayan welcomed the gathering.
