Pramod Ahlawat, a sugarcane farmer from Bhaisi village in Muzaffarnagar, said that the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has stymied the growth of India’s sugar bowl region.

“The average income of farmers has not increased in four years,” he said. Ahlawat further added, “But the rate of pesticides and urea fertilizer has increased, and the weight of NPK fertilizers has fallen from 50 kg to 45 kg. Voting for the BJP government has been our generation’s greatest regret.”

Narender Singh, 51, hails from Shahjatpur village in Amroha, which he claimed now bears a no-entry sign for BJP members at its entrance.

“The BJP’s end is not something that will happen in the future. In western Uttar Pradesh, it has already happened,” Narender declared. He further added, “Farming as a profession has regressed so much in the region that we are here, protesting under open skies, away from our families.”

Also See: Overview of Farmers’ protests- role of Charan Singh

Stray Cows destroying crops

Narender believes that the state government’s agenda to discourage cow-slaughter has been a recipe for disaster. “Earlier, we would sell the cows for a sum of money,” he said. He added, “But after the slaughterhouses closed, these animals had nowhere to go. The government has not built enough cowsheds, as it promised, and so, the animals stray and destroy our crops.”

Baghpat-based farmer Rampal Singh, 72, shared Narender’s concerns. “We spend the entire day working on the fields and the entire nights warding off the cows,” he said. He pointed at a cluster of young men sitting a few metres away. Rampal added, “It is also the case with our sons; they do nothing but loiter. They should have gone to work, and the government promised two crore jobs, but what came out of it?”

Exasperated, he further added: “We took an axe to our feet by voting for the BJP.”

Sugarcane farmers from western Uttar Pradesh also pointed to the government’s lax enforcement of the Sugarcane Control Order of 1966, which directs sugar mills to pay farmers within 14 days of crushing.

“We have not been paid for our produce since a year,” claimed Viraj Tomar, 38, a sugarcane farmer from Baghpat and a member of the district panchayat. He further added, “The Malakpur mill in Baghpat last paid us on March 4, 2020. Over that, the Yogi government has not increased the rate of sugarcane in three years.”

Additionally, Viraj said, that their electricity bills under the Adityanath government have increased three to four times. “Every other government paid us better than Yogi, including the Samajwadi Party government that came before him,” he said.

The Sugarcane Control Order stipulates that mills which do not pay farmers within 14 days have to shell out interest over the remunerative price. Yogender Singh, a farmer from Amroha, told media that even though he was recently paid for his sugarcane crops after a year-long delay, the mills did not pay him interest.

He said: “I make some Rs 8,000 a month now through farming. In good times, that used to be the monthly pay of a labourer in my farm.”

(Sourced from NewsLaundry)