Kisan Sabha stages protest in Haryana’s Bhiwani, seeks drought-hit status for Siwani

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) staged a dharna at the SDM office in Siwani town of Haryana’s Bhiwani district on Thursday, demanding that the tehsil be declared drought-hit and farmers be provided compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre for crop losses.

The protesters demonstrated outside the SDM office before submitting a memorandum of their demands to local officials. The SDM was not available at the office, and the memorandum was handed over to the Agriculture Department’s SDO and the office kanungo.

Addressing the protesters, farmer leaders said kharif crops in Siwani tehsil had suffered severe damage due to inadequate rainfall during the monsoon. They said the lack of rain had also triggered a fodder crisis, forcing farmers to buy fodder at around Rs 1,000 per quintal.

The speakers accused the state government of being anti-farmer and anti-labour and alleged that its policies had pushed farmers further into debt.

They also raised concerns over irrigation and drinking water, claiming that canals in the tehsil had remained without water for the past six months. According to the protesters, even drinking water was not being supplied through the canal system.

Farmers raise DAP shortage concerns

With the rabi sowing season expected to begin in October, the farmers also raised concerns over the availability of DAP fertiliser.

They alleged that adequate supplies had not reached the area even though the rabi season was about a month away, raising concerns over farmers’ ability to begin sowing on time.

The Kisan Sabha warned of an escalation if the administration failed to conduct a crop-loss assessment, or girdawari, by September 13.

It said farmers would gather at the Siwani SDM office on September 14 and launch an indefinite protest if the assessment was not carried out by the deadline.

An official of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department assured the protesters that announcements would be made in villages during crop-cutting exercises conducted for crop insurance and that farmers present at the sites would be provided receipts.

The office kanungo also assured the farmers that crop damage would be recorded during the routine girdawari.

Kisan Sabha leaders Dayanand Poonia, Umrao Singh, Antar Kaswan, Sukaram Jaglan, Ramchander Fauji, Rajbir Sihag and Suresh Saini, besides several farmers, were present during the protest.