Hundreds of activists of Himachal Pradesh Kissan Sabha today gathered outside deputy commissioner office to protest against government’s alleged failure to deal with apple seasons. The authorities were charged for remaining passive in tackling the problems faced by the farmers. HKS state president and senior party leader of CPI-M, Kuldeep Singh Thanwar lead the protest, which was attended by large number of farmers gathered at district headquarters.
A memorandum was also submitted to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal through Deputy Commissioner Shimla, J.S.Rana, in which HKS alleged that state government has failed to tackle the problems affecting one third of state farmers and three lakh families, engaged in the apple profession. It said that 10 districts of the state have been affected from the mismanagement of the peak season. HKS also alleged that as rain or weather wrath played havoc with the fate of farmers, similarly government and administration have also been eluding the farmers by neglecting them in the hour of dire need. Giving four major lapses of government in dealing with Apple season, HKS highlighted that frequent disruption in traffic, landslides, road mishaps and charging of excessive truck freight for transportation were not doing any good to the farmers. It alleged that the sacristy of Truck for apple transportation to markets had forced the farmers to be exploited in the hands of truck operators, charging monopolistic fare from the farmers.
Consequently, it demanded immediate restoration of main and link roads to facilitate the left out crop from the interior, provision of trays and apple cartons in government fair price shops and societies at minimum prices, availability of trucks on affordable freight charges and removing of disparity in MIS scheme to benefit the farmers. It also demanded personal intervention o Chief Minister in controlling the apple season operation in the tandem manure and constitution of a joint committee comprising all related departments under the chairmanship of Chief Minister to take account of the emergent situation and sorting it out.
(Source :www.himvani.com)
