Victims say relief paltry, protest on

BARA: Notwithstanding Yesterday’s cabinet decision to pay Rs 20 crores as compensation to the maize victim farmers in the Tarai, Farmers’ Rights Central Struggle Committee is in no mood to abandon its agitation.

Issuing press release on Wednesday at Kalaiya in Bara, Rasul Ansari, chairman of the struggle committee said that they will give continuity to their agitation until the government announces full compensation. Stating that the government had just fulfiled single demand out of the 18 demands submitted to it, the committee is totally discontented by the government’s decision. The maize victim farmers are quite dissatisfied with the government as it promised to dole out just RS 20 crores as relief though non-yielding maize had incurred a mammoth loss of over Rs 3 billion in the Tarai. Ansari said that the struggle committee will soon announce further protest programme as the government had failed to address their demands.

Earlier, maize victim farmers had been taking to the streets demanding compensation for the loss, loan at minimum interest rate, production of improved seeds in Nepal, subsidy on the import of agricultural tools. Establishment of soil test centre in all districts, management of irrigation facility and electrification for farming among others are the demands too.