Madhya Pradesh farmers' strike: Cultivators torch tyres after failing to sell produce at MSP in Narsinghpur

Narsinghpur (Madhya Pradesh): Even as the agrarian unrest largely subsided in most parts of Madhya Pradesh, a group of farmers torched tyres at an agriculture market in Narsinghpur after finding no takers for their produce. The incident took place on Wednesday at the Krishi Upaj Mandi in Narsinghpur’s Gadarwara area when the farmers failed to sell their produce at the minimum support price (MSP). Upon getting information about the trouble in the market, district Collector RR Bhonsle and Superintendent of Police Mukesh Shrivastava rushed to the spot to pacify the angry farmers. [caption id=“attachment_3659341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Bhonsle and Shrivastava held talks with the farmers and made arrangements for them to sell their produce. “After coming to know that the farmers’ were upset in the mandi yesterday (Wednesday), we rushed to the spot and made arrangements to facilitate selling of the farm produce,” the collector told PTI. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh had been on the 10-day stir from 1 June demanding remunerative prices for their produce. On 6 June, five farmers were killed as the agitation by peasants demanding a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce turned violent in Mandsaur. Besides, a 26-year-old farmer had died in Badwan village, also in Mandsaur, allegedly after being beaten up by police. In the midst of the cultivators’ agitation, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan had announced a series of measures for farmers, including declaring purchase of farm produce below the minimum support a criminal act. He also reiterated that the government was setting up a Rs 1,000-crore price stabilisation fund to purchase the farm produce at the MSP. Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure better prices of the farm produce vis-a-vis cost of crops, he had said.