With Madhya Pradesh facing agrarian protests, the RSS-associated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has criticised the Centre for ignoring issues related to the distressed farmers.

According to the saffron body, the farmers are compelled to sell crops at a loss due to a glut in the market.
An umbrella body of farmers Rashtriya Kisan Mahasabha (RKM), which includes BKS, on Friday asked the Modi government to fulfil its 2014 election promise of 50% profit on the cost of production, and warned that, otherwise, the protest will spread to other states.

“The farmers’ protest was planned and did not occur all of a sudden. We started from the Malwa region. The protest turned violent as the Mandsaur farmers were upset that the Bharatiya Kisan Union withdrew the protest without consulting fellow farmers,” RKM national convener and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh chief Shivkumar Sharma said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, BKS national vice president Prabhakar Kelkar attacked the government for coming out with a notification to curtail the sale of cattle for slaughtering. It will add to the burden of farmers who will have to live with unproductive cattle, he said.

Kelkar told a news channel that the central government has not done enough for farmers in the past three years, and that has forced them to take their anger out on to the street. The farmers were also hit by demonetisation.

Owing to a good farm produce this time, crops are being sold at losses and it is time “the government thinks of a roadmap to help farmers in distress”, he said.

Kelkar also expressed fear of the agitation spreading to other parts of the state.

He hoped the government would do something to improve storage facilities because presently the farmers have to travel far to sell their produce.

According to Kelkar, the government’s recent notifications on cattle trade was brought in “a hurry”. The government should have first sought feedback from all stakeholders before taking a final call, he said.