Patwaris called off their strike on Thursday but have decided to boycott all work related to Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi and Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojna. This has added to tension of the government officials after an announcement made by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan giving Rs 4000 to farmers as assistance.
“We have withdrawn our protest taken being staged after lethal attack on our colleagues in Ron tehsil of Bhind district. The accused have been arrested and section 307 has been added in the FIR. Moreover, the said patwari has also been transferred as per our request,” said president of Madhya Pradesh Patwari Sangh, Upendra Singh Baghel.
The strike might have been taken back by the patwaris but the challenge for the state government remains. Patwaris have been asked to conduct work and identify farmers for the recently announced scheme-the Mukhya Mantri Kisan Kalyan Yojna. CM had announced to provide additional benefit of Rs 4000 to the farmers who have been enrolled for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
Baghel said that patwaris from across the state will boycott this work. ‘All data related to farmers have been uploaded online by us in last two years. We haven’t received the payment for that yet. Rather patwaris are being penalized and harassed for it,’ he said.
Other states are also working for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi but no one is harassing the patwaris. All the data is online and concerned departments are doing it very easily but here in MP patwaris are unnecessarily engaged in the process.
Removed from corona warrior category, hundreds afflicted
Another reason given for boycotting the farmers’ related work is that hundreds of patwaris have been tested corona positive. ‘We have been removed from the category of corona warriors few days ago. Despite that we are pushed on the field to conduct work that could be done online,’ said president of the MP Patwari Sangh. A large number of patwaris have tested corona positive and hundreds are under quarantine. They should be provided appropriate security, he added.
