Paddy farmers stage protests against millers

KARACHI: Paddy farmers of coastal areas of Sindh have been protesting for the proper rates of their rice crops for last many days in district Badin.

Coastal belt is facing another crisis of improper rates of their rice crop by mill owners. They are also facing water shortage. They have also not been paid for their sugarcane by sugar mills of the area.

On Friday, a large number of the paddy farmers gathered in Kario Ghanwar town from various areas of the district Badin where they staged demonstration on Shaheed Fazil Rahu Road for the several hours to register their protest against the rice millers for not giving them proper rates.

The protest has been going on for last seven days.

The traffic flow on Hyderabad-Golarchi road remained suspended for over 5 hours due to the demonstration and sit-in by the farmers. Faraz Shah, Ameer Azad Panhwar, Arbab Ghulam Hussain Mehri, Ghulam Hussain Mehri and other leaders of the protesting farmers while addressing the participants of the demonstration vowed to continue their peaceful struggle against the rice mills, which, according to them, are not paying them proper rates of their chief crop. They also criticised them for the deduction in the weight of the grain under the pretext of moisture.

On the occasion, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Shaheed Fazil Rahu taluka, Zulfikar Ali Nizamani reached ther and tried to persuade the farmers to end their protest and assured them that he would resolve their issue within next few days by taking up the matter with the high-ups. The protesters ended their protest and agreed to hold meeting with AC in his office on Monday to amicably resolve the issue of the price as well as of the deduction of the rice during the sale.

Apart from the protest, on Tuesday complete shutterdown was observed in Kario Ghanwar in the area on the joint call of the farmers’ organisations, various political parties and traders against the rice millers.

All the shops and trade centers remained closed due to which bazaars were presenting a deserted look. The farmers also took out rallies in the town to register their protest and urged the high-ups of the Sindh government to take notice of their continuous protests against the millers.