5 months ago
1
A protestation by mango farmers from Chittoor and Tirupati districts, demanding outgo of long-pending dues from pulp processing industries, ended connected a affirmative enactment connected Monday. District Collector Sumit Kumar assured the agitating farmers of caller negotiations with pulp portion operators to resoluteness the issue.
More than 300 mango farmers participated successful the “Chalo Collectorate” programme, pressing for contiguous clearance of pending payments. Protest organisers representing the District Mango Farmers’ Association deplored that respective pulp industries had failed to wide dues for mango supplies made implicit the past 7 months, contempt directives from the government.
“The hold was unjust and exploitative, particularly arsenic farmers we are preparing for the upcoming season. The farmers urgently required superior for pruning, fertilisers and different operations for the ensuing season,” said CPI(M) territory caput Vada Gangaraju.
The protestors asked whether the authorities would broadside with the “40 errant industries oregon 40,000 mango farmers,” and demanded contiguous merchandise of each pending amounts, noting that immoderate industries had paid lone ₹2-₹5 per kg truthful far, arsenic against the government’s assurance of ₹8.
Their demands included aboriginal commencement of pulp units by May 2026, government-run municipality outlets for the income of array varieties, enactment for acold retention and cottage industries, and linkage of mango cultivation operations with the MGNREGS scheme.
After the protest, a memorandum was submitted to the Collector, who assured the farmers that discussions with pulp manufacture representatives would beryllium held astatine the earliest.
