Farmer dies on the way to join NKS rally

Bhubaneswar: In a shocking incident, a farmer died while on the way to join a demonstration organised by the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) here today.

The deceased has been identified as Birakishore Biswal, a resident of Barbari village under Chanipur panchyat in Salepur area of Cuttack district.

According to sources, Biswal, one of the thousands of farmers under the banner of NKS who had marched in a rally from Cuttack yesterday for a rally to be staged later today, was found dead at the camp near Bhubaneswar- Puri bypass road where the processionists halted for the night .

“He was with us last night at our camp near Hanspal but in the morning he did not respond when we were trying call him and then we brought him to Capital Hospital where doctors declared dead,” said Shyamsundar Pratap, another farmer, who had come join the rally.

We are waiting the postmortem report to know the reason behind the death, added Pratap

Notably, thousands of farmers from various parts of the state under the banner of NKS started a march from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar on Wednesday demanding fulfillment of their demands.

The farmers have threatened that they would hold a massive demonstration at Lower PMG Square in Bhubaneswar today to press their long pending demands such as implementation of a pension scheme for farmers, payment of compensation to the kin of farmers who committed suicide, higher minimum support price, better procurement facilities, better social accord and drought compensation, among other things, sources added.