Former army chief VK Singh sends out call to gherao Parliament in Dec

Former Army Chief VK Singh has sent out a call to gherao Parliament on 4 December to protest new regulations in the sugar farm industry. As the convener of Rahstriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) Singh has raised objections to the report submitted by the Rangarajan panel committee regarding the regulation of the sugar sector. “We have written a letter to the Prime Minister about this issue. We believe there is enough for a revision. But if the government does not act, farmers from across the country will gather and gherao the parliament,” Singh said during a press interaction in New Delhi on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_512809” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI[/caption] He dodged a question on whether he would personally take part in such protest. “I have not thought about it. We will cross the bridge when we reach there,” he said. The RKMS has said that the Rangarajan report has applied the same yardstick for sugarcane farmers in both tropical and non-tropical belts of the country. It says that doing so is incorrect as the yield per acre was almost 50 percent to 100 percent more in the tropical belt, which meant that the report’s findings put North Indian farmers at a disadvantage. “As the recovery of sugar in the tropical region is 50 percent higher, the profits of the mills is certainly going to be the at least 50 percent more than North. Therefore, the tropical region where sugar recovery is over 12 percent will benefit from the arrangement provided by the Rangarajan panel, which suggests that 70 percent of the sugar price should to be paid to the farmers,” said RKMS leader V M Singh. After his retirement from the army, Singh has participated in a number of discussions and agitations conducted by different groups including that of Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare and farmers in Maharashtra. On Thursday, he shared the dais with JD (U) president Sharad Yadav, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala at the Samman Diwas rally organized by the INLD in Haryana. Singh said he attended the event as he hailed from Haryana and it was the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Devi Lal. “No one in the world should be surprised if I am seen at a programme which is conducted for the welfare of farmers,” he said. When asked if there was lack of clarity in the issues he was extending his support to, Singh said he was clear about what he was doing. “I am not confused, I don’t know who is confused,” he said.