Farmers lay siege to minister's vehicle

Accusing District In-charge Minister S T Somashekar of neglecting to address farmers’ issues, members of State Sugarcane Growers’ Association laid a siege to his vehicle at Gun House Circle in the city on Saturday.

The farmers alleged that the minister is neglecting farmers and is not showing interest to address their issues. Even though the farmers have written a letter to the minister, highlighting their issues, he has not responded, they said.

The farmers raised slogans against the minister and demanded him to withdraw the amendment to the Land Reforms Act and APMC Act. The minister assured of resolving the issue soon.

Farmers leader Kurbur Shantha Kumar said, “Farmers are facing several issues and Covid-19 has pushed them to hardships.”

“Sugarcane growers are under stress as sugarcane is not harvested from 15 months. The government has failed to take measures to open Sri Rama Sugarcane Factory. Farmers are not getting loan at cooperative societies and banks,” he said.

Shantha Kumar alleged that the amendment to the Land Reforms Act is a threat to the farming community and a boon for real estate mafia. The Act must be withdrawn. Farmers and members of various organisations have decided to lay a siege to Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru, he said.

Despite repeated approaches, the minister did not make any attempt to address the problems and thus, the farmers laid a siege, he said.

The minister said that he will convene a meeting of officials and farmer leaders to discuss about the problems.

Farmer leader Hattalli Devaraj, Kiragasur Shankar, Hadya Ravi, K R Aravind and Ambale Manjunath were present.