Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): Scores of farmers protested outside Mandsaur narcotics office over not getting justified rates for opium cultivation.
Farmers demanded that narcotics department should pay them on the basis of morphine obtained from opium. Farmer Gopal Dhangar said that morphine was the purified form and was sold at higher prices then opium. Hence, they should be paid on the basis of morphine rather than opium.
They also asked government to provide security while cultivating, harvesting and transporting opium crops to centres.
License to cultivate the crops should be renewed as it allowed them cultivate opium at 10 different area, said farmers. Farmers wanted administration to ensure their participation in formulation of opium policy. Lastly, they demanded increase in rate up to Rs 10, 000 per kilograms.
Farmers Ghanshyam Patidar, Rakesh Patidar, Shyam Sonawat, Kanhaiyalal Patidar, Shyam Patidar and others were also present.
