Bittersweet: Rs 168.83 billion due to sugarcane farmers in the country; 45% of this to UP farmers
Sugar mills in the country owe farmers Rs 168.83 billion in dues, Union minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament. Uttar Pradesh owes the most at Rs 75.55 billion. A Supreme Court hearing on February 12 offers a glimmer of hope as it has issued notices to 15 sugarcane-producing states, including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, to settle dues.
Arvind Shukla
Budget 2021: Rs 650 billion allocated for PM Kisan Yojana; funds slashed by Rs 100 billion from last year’s original budget allocation
Why has the government reduced funding for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana? What happens to those who received funds under it, but are not intended beneficiaries? Here’s a lowdown on what the government intends to do to recover the amount.
Arvind Shukla
Ghazipur Border: Tears of farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait has thousands of farmers rushing back to Ghazipur
Yesterday, on January 28, Rakesh Tikait was issued a notice in connection with violent clashes during the tractor parade on the Republic Day. Farmers’ protests seemed to be drawing towards an end. However, tears of Tikait have made several farmers return to the protest sites.
Arvind Shukla
Farmers Protest: Situation tense at Ghazipur border. Protesting farmers told to vacate the place, their water supply stopped
Farmers protesting at Ghazipur border have been given an ultimatum to vacate the place; their water supply stopped. Police force present in large numbers. Sec 144 is in force. Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the kisan andolan will continue.
Arvind Shukla
Half of rural India thinks the coronavirus pandemic is a ‘conspiracy by China’: Gaon Connection Survey
The first survey of its kind on ‘COVID-19 Vaccine and Rural India’ by Gaon Connection Insights finds the various perceptions people in rural India have towards the coronavirus disease. Almost 20% call it ‘an act of God’ whereas another one-fifth think coronavirus is no more.
Arvind Shukla
Sprouts of sadness: In the long wait before paddy procurement centres in UP, paddy sprouts, turns black and rots
The Uttar Pradesh government has set a target of procuring 55 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. Despite putting in place an online system, farmers are waiting for weeks in the bitter cold for procurement. In the process, the paddy spoils or starts germinating.
Arvind Shukla
Battle for MSP: Punjab and Haryana’s farmers fear their robust mandi system will collapse
The central government procured 375.72 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, nearly 54% of it from Punjab and nearly 15% from Haryana, till December 13 this year. Farmers from these states have put up a fight to save the mandis.
Arvind Shukla
Age No Bar: Neither age nor sex has dampened the energy and enthusiasm of the farmer protestors at the Dilli Chalo March
The ongoing protest at the outskirts of Delhi, by farmers of Haryana and Punjab, has brought together people across differing ideologies, political leanings and age groups to fight for a common cause – the roll back of the three agri laws.
Arvind Shukla
Farmers Protest: Gaon Connection spent three days with the protesting farmers, as they marched from Punjab and Haryana towards Delhi
Camping out in the open, breaking through police barriers, facing tear gas and water cannons…thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have made it to Delhi. A ground report of the three days from Arvind Shukla and Daya Sagar.
Arvind Shukla
We will starve but not go back without the laws being repealed, say protesting women farmers
Women farmers, whose contribution to economic growth is largely undocumented, have kept the protests against the three new agri laws going. They cook by the roadside and march alongside the men, determined to be heard.