Cotton purchase stopped, two farmers begin fast in Abohar

Abohar, December 1

Two farmers started an indefinite fast on Friday in protest against Cotton Corporation of India’s (CCI) decision to stop the purchase of Narma cotton in the local yard.

BKU Rajewal activists Sukhjinder Singh Rajan and Harminder Singh embarked on the fast in the sub-divisional administrative complex and some other farmers also sat on dharna to express solidarity with the duo.

The BKU condemned the central government agency for backtracking from the assurance that cotton would be purchased at minimum support price. The union said that on the last day, CCI suddenly issued a dictatorial order and refused to purchase cotton. All this is the result of collusion between traders and cotton ginning and pressing factory operators, it alleged.

Earlier, farmers were getting good price in the market, but suddenly, the CCI stopped the purchase. The traders then reduced the price. The union demanded that the purchase of cotton should be resumed through the CCI.