Farmers strike enters day four, household budget goes for a toss as vegetable prices shoot up

The 10-day farmers strike to seek better MSP for their crops, loan waiver and implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations, entered its fourth day on Monday.

The farmers of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab dumped their produce on roads and stopped the supply of milk, vegetables and fruits to cities.

At some places in Maharashtra and Punjab and Haryana farmers reportedly poured thousands of litres of milk on roads and stopped supply of veggies to mandis.

The household budget went for a toss as the prices of vegetables and fruits soared due to disruption in supply following the farmers strike.

Reacting to strike, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the farmers were being misguided and protesting against the government will not serve any purpose.

“We have always been listening to farmers and we have come up with so many schemes and programmes for the welfare of peasants. Be it schemes related to crop compensation, crop insurance or shielding the farmers from price fluctuations or schemes related to irrigation, we have launched many initiatives for their welfare, Khattar told reporters.

He added that “those who are misguiding farmers to throw their vegetables and spill the milk on the roads” will not be forgiven.

However, the Narendra Modi-led government’s apathy towards the plight of protesting farmers came out in open with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh terming the strike a media gimmick.

“There are 14 crore farmers in the country, but only around 5 lakh of them have joined the strike. What they are doing is a kind of bizarre work to remain in the media,” the agriculture minister had said in Patna on Saturday.