Apple growers from Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand protest at Jantar Mantar

Apple farmers from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday participated in a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi over no import duty on imported apple and end of market intervention scheme by the Central government that allowed states to produce agriculture produce in 17 states.

The protest was organised a day before workers and farmers are holding a rally at the Ramlila Grounds on Wednesday over high inflation, low wages and farm crisis. They are demanding guaranteed procurement of all farm produce and withdrawal of four labour codes that ease of business vis-à-vis workers in factories.

Sanjay Chauhan, convener of the All-India Kisan Sabha, Himachal, and former Shimla mayor, said apple growers divided by state boundaries have joined hands to save the apple economy. “We presented a nine-point charter of demands during the demonstration which includes withdrawal of eviction notices served to apple farmers in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal and resumption of Centre’s Market Intervention Scheme,” he said.

The farmers from the two states demanded imposing 100% import duty on apple, mandatory universal carton for packaging and removal of GST on all commodities related to apple production. Chauhan said that a delegation of apple farmers had met Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar in July 2022 and submitted a memorandum of their demands. “The Central government failed to accept our demands and as a result apple farmers suffered a lot in 2022 apple season,” he said.

The protest addressed by former Himachal MLA Rakesh Singha and other farmer leaders from the three states was held under the aegis of the All-India Kisan Sabha. The sabha also decided to start an organised movement against “anti-farmer and anti-horticultural policies” of the Union government, with the slogan of ‘Save apple economy, save apple farmers’, a statement from the sabha said.