Bumper Burden

Madhya Pradesh witnesses farmer unrest like never before despite a bumper harvest

- Jitendra

ON JUNE 10, when Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched an indefinite fast in Bhopal to restore peace in western Madhya Pradesh—the epicentre of farmers agitation brewing across the state since June to secure fair price for their produce and farm loan waiver—the price of onions at Ratlam mandi was a mere 25 paise per kg. Singh broke his fast after 28 hours and announced a host of schemes to pacify the protesters. Though he was silent on the issue of waiving farm loans, he asked the district administrations to procure all the onions at ₹8 per kg and pulses at the minimum support price (msp). While the government claims that the farmer unrest has halted following Singh’s announcement, farmer leaders say the movement is far from being over (see ‘Our protest is not over yet’, p23).

“We are trying to keep the movement on peaceful track which had turned violent after the killing of six protesting famers,” says farmer leader Shiv Kumar Sharma (Kakkaji), national convenor of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation that has been spearheading the stir across the country. Ram Inania, a soybean farmer and farmer leader from Harda district, says, “Since the monsoon has arrived, we are now going back to our fields. But we will be back on the street in September.”