Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) today said it will stage protests in election-bound states like Gujarat against anti-farmers' policies of the NDA government.
The BKU will also organise a 'Maha Panchayat' on March 13, 2018 in the national capital. Farmers across the country will take part in the one-day programme that will deliberate on farm challenges, it said.
"We are going to protest in states like Gujarat which are going for polls. We will tell farmers in those states about the government's anti-farmers policies," BKU National spokesperson Rakesh Tikait told PTI.
Farmers are in distress and are committing suicides as they are not getting better returns on their produce, he said.
Himachal Pradesh will go to the polls on November 8, while in Gujarat elections will be held next month. In 2018, assembly polls will be held in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Tripura.
Among key demands, Tikait said the government should consider farm loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and ban on genetically modified crops.
The government should also fix minimum support price (MSP) for all farm commodities and ensure their procurement, provide long term farm credit and zero interest loan for five years, among others, he said.
BKU also sought for a policy to support the family of farmers who have committed suicides and fixing of a minimum farmers' income.
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