Farmers on tractors hold protest in Uttarakhand's Rudrapur

Rudrapur (Uttarakhand): Farmers on tractors held a dharna in front of the district collectorate in this Uttarakhand city on Wednesday in support of their various demands.

The protest comes at a time when thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, have been camping at the Punjab-Haryana border in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops, pension for farmers and farm labourers and farm loan waiver.

The farmers in Rudrapur reached the collectorate on tractors, shouting slogans as they passed through the streets. They were stopped by the police outside the collectorate, which was heavily barricaded.

The farmers sat on a dharna in front of the collectorate gate and raised their demands.

Lakhs of farmers in the country have been agitating for a long time for their just demands but the Centre has been misleading them by giving false assurances, the farmers said.

'We will not step back until our demands are met,' Terai Kisan Union chief Tajendra Singh said.

The farmers also submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate, listing their various demands, including control on price rise and removal of GST from essential commodities.

Reduction in central excise duty on petroleum products and cooking gas, relief for senior citizens, women, disabled persons, sportspersons by the Railways and a comprehensive loan waiver scheme are among their other demands.