Rajkot: The Morbi district Congress committee will organise a ‘Khedut Aakrosh Mahasabha‘ (farmers’ protest rally) near Sanala village in Morbi on Thursday, to highlight growing agrarian distress across Saurashtra. The rally will raise the issues of crop losses due to inadequate rainfall, irrigation water shortages, rising agricultural input costs and the mounting debts on farmers.Farmers from across Saurashtra are expected to participate in the rally, which will be attended by Gujarat Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Chavda, leader of the opposition Tushar Chaudhary, Siddharth Patel, Paresh Dhanani, former legislators and party office-bearers from across the region.Addressing the media, Congress leaders Lalit Kagathra and Lalit Vasoya said farmers in Saurashtra and other parts of Gujarat were facing severe hardships due to inadequate rainfall, associated with the El Nino effect. They said the state govt had failed to provide timely relief to affected cultivators and demanded that areas receiving insufficient rainfall be immediately declared drought-affected.One of the rally’s key demands will be the prompt implementation of relief measures in areas where inadequate rainfall has affected sowing or resulted in crop failure. The party will also demand immediate and adequate compensation for farmers protesting the installation of private electricity transmission lines across agricultural land in several parts of the state.Congress will further seek urgent assistance for livestock owners facing fodder shortages due to poor rainfall. It demanded that the govt open fodder depots and provide subsidies or financial assistance for cattle feed and fodder.The revival of Gujarat’s crop insurance scheme will also feature prominently among the party’s demands. Kagathra said farmers were unable to benefit from crop insurance and argued that restarting the scheme would provide much-needed financial protection against crop losses caused by droughts and excessive rainfall.The party will also question the state govt’s management of irrigation water under the Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (Sauni) scheme. Designed to channel Narmada water to dams across Saurashtra to meet irrigation requirements, the scheme has been a key component of the region’s water management plans. Congress has demanded that water be released into the region’s dams to ensure adequate levels for agricultural needs.Congress will press for a farm loan waiver, citing the increasing debt on cultivators. It criticised the state govt saying it had extended debt relief to large industrialists while failing to provide comparable assistance to farmers.The party will also demand the withdrawal of the Rs 500 increase in the price of NPK chemical fertiliser, arguing that the increase further increased the burden on farmers already grappling with rising cultivation costs.After the Oct 22 rally, the Gujarat Congress plans to announce further agitation programmes across Saurashtra to intensify its campaign and press the state govt to address farmers’ grievances.
