Farmers lock Taraori grain market in Karnal
Karnal, September 14
Infuriated over the use of fans to clean grains and also the charging of money for unloading grains, scores of farmers protested at the Taraori grain market here today.
They locked the gates and staged a dharna outside the market committee office. Besides, they demanded the start of government procurement of the PR varieties from September 15.
The protesting farmers highlighted the issue of the lack of basic facilities in the grain market. SDM Karnal Anubhav Mehta assured them to resolve their issues, but the farmers were adamant on their demands.
Bhupinder Singh Ladi, a farm leader, said they had served an ultimatum to the administration for today, but when nobody came to resolve the issue, they had no option but to protest.
The farmers had hi-tech trolleys, which did not require any manual labour to unload the grain. Despite this, unloading charges were being taken from the farmers, which was unfair, he added.
Farmers harvest crop with the help of combine machines and grains did not require fans. In the grain market, fans were used to clean grains and Rs 2 was charged per quintal from farmers for using fans, which would not be given at any cost, he said.
