Centre preparing to end mandi system, says farmer leader Rakesh Tikait

Pilibhit (UP): Accusing the Central government of preparing to end the mandi system by bringing in a new draft, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday said the the market committees have been closed in Bihar since 2006 and now preparations are on to implement the same system in Uttar Pradesh as well.

Speaking at the Kisan Mahapanchayat organized by the Bharatiya Kisan Union here, Tikait said the "farmers have been allowed to sell grains outside the mandi" under the new system.

"This will reduce the inflow of grains and revenue in the mandis. Market committees have been closed in Bihar since 2006. Now preparations are on to implement the same system in Uttar Pradesh as well," he added.

Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, alleged that the government has not increased the circle rates of land since 2013.

The government's intention behind this is that the farmers become landless and become labourers, he said.

"Only the farmer, who saves his land by the year 2047, will remain alive. For this, a generation has to start a movement to save the land," he added.

Targeting the Kumbh Mela mela, Tikait said, "If someone does not take a bath in the Kumbh (Mela), he will not be allowed to live, he will be taunted. The government is creating an atmosphere of fear in the country. It has come to the minds of the people, and now, a movement of ideas will begin." On the problems of sugarcane farmers, he alleged that government sugar mills do not pay the sugarcane price on time.

The farmers are being cheated in the name of minimum support price. Some industrialists buy crops from the farmers at low prices and are selling it to the government by calling themselves farmers, he said.