Shetty ups ante against government land acquisition bill

NASHIK: The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) Member of Parliament, Raju Shetty, has decided to intensify his stir against the Centre’s Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, saying that his organisation had decided to increase their efforts to get justice for the land owners.
“There have been enough of representations to the government urging it to amend the land acquisition bill which renders the farmers landless. We have now decided to resort to the guerrilla tactics and intensify agitation against the government. We will lock the government offices and the officers without fear of anybody,” said Shetty during a day-long visit in Nashik.
After addressing his party members in a programme at Parshuram Saikhedkar, Shetty called upon the members to attend the two-day camp being organised in mid-July at Aurangabad where the action plan of the agitation will be chalked out.
Shetty added,“The call for the agitation will be given any time and any day through any of the means available. The manner in which agitation will be conducted will be conveyed to the members. The same tactics will be used on the day and ‘on the word go’, the members will storm the offices and lock the government officials in their cabins and offices without allowing them to move,” Shetty said.
He also pointed out that the members were told clearly that there will be no law and order situation, and that the members would stage sit-in agitation at the time of the protests. At the time of the call, the farmers should throng to the streets in huge numbers.“The government will have to bow to the public pressure,” Shetty said.
The MP also spoke on the onion farmers – suffering in Nashik. The government had nothing to do with the current market prices of the onion as they were being transacted at average price with win-win situation for the farmers as well as the consumers.
“We don’t understand who suggested the government to increase the minimum export price from 250 dollars per metric tonne to 450 dollars per metric tonne. We want the government to withdraw its latest order on the same,” Shetty said.
Shetty also pointed out that he was about to meet the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies as well to discuss the issue that could slash the market rates for the farmers.
“The onion farmer has already suffered a lot. There is no situation at present that the prices are sky rocketing. In fact the rise in MEP will create havoc for the farmers as the pile up was likely in the market bringing down the market rates,” Shetty feared and demanded that the government should stop unnecessary interference.