Farmers to go on indefinite strike from February 6

Bhubaneswar: Pressurising the State government to fulfill their long standing demands of price, pension and prestige, farmers will go on an indefinite strike under the aegis of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) from February 6.

Addressing a press conference, Convenor  of  NNKS Akshay Kumar  said, “Thousands of farmers under the aegis of NNKS will join a massive farmer convention on February 6 to begin the second phase of agitation against the lackadaisical attitude of the government. The protest will continue for an indefinite period till our demands are fulfilled.”

The NNKS had organised a 'padayatra' from October 29 to November 5 last year over the same demands.

"Despite forming ministerial level committees twice to resolve the issue, the government has not been able to take any concrete decision to look into our demands. Shockingly, the State government has tried to divert the issue by implementing ‘KALIA’ scheme, " Kumar added.

The farming community has been demanding a security allowance of Rs 5000 per month for nearly 36 lakh farmers of the State with an annual budget allocation of Rs 21,600 crore.