CPM flexes farmer muscle .AIKS demands waiver of farmers' loans

TT, 28 Dec 2018, Siliguri: Senior CPM leaders hit the streets of Siliguri on Thursday and walked around 5km with thousands of others in a rally organised by All India Krishak Sabha (AIKS) -farmers' wing of the party ­ over a number of demands pertaining to farmers.

In recent times, it is one of the largest rallies that has been organised by the party in the city where around 10,000 people, mostly farmers, congregated from seven north Bengal districts except Malda. The march commenced from Airview More and headed towards Uttarkanya- the branch secretariat of the state located at the southern end of Siliguri­ along Burdwan Road and AH-II.

Due to the rally, traffic movement along a lane of these roads came to a halt for around two hours, as the party supporters and farmers walked along the route, carrying flags, festoons and banners.

"This is the second march of farmers that has been held in the state after the one organised from Singur. We had proved then and on Thursday again, we have proved that our support base is still strong at the grassroots, particularly in agrarian belts. It was a spontaneous response of farmers who came from far-flung areas to attend the march to protest the policies of both the Centre and the state," said a district CPM leader.

The assembly and the march, he said, will surely help in encouraging party workers and supporters ahead of the upcoming Parliament elections.

Ahead of the rally, CPM had taken the task to scale up activities in and around the town. On Wednesday, party workers had visited households and had collected "roti" for the farmers and on Thursday, those were distributed as food among them.

Around 12 noon on Thursday, the march started from Airview More and reached Tinbatti More, near Uttarkanya, after almost two hours.

Most of the speakers were vocal on demanding waiver of farmers' loans, fix Rs 350 as the minimum daily wage for agricultural workers and provide 200 days' employment to rural people under central scheme.

"Some businessmen have managed to escape the country with crores of bank loans. But the Prime Minister does not have the courage to take any steps against them and he has not waived the farmers' loan. In Bengal, the chief minister did not waive the loans of farmers," said Ashok Dhawale, the national president of AIKS..