Assam facing scarcity of animal and fish feeds, Bharatiya Kishan Sangh stepped in
As Assam is under lockdown with the rest of India to prevent community spread of deadly Coronavirus disease in the country, the Livestock and Fish farmers of the state are facing an acute shortage of feeds. Hundreds of trucks are stranded in the Chagoliya check-gate in Dhubri district and Srirampur check-gate in Kokrajhar district of Assam-Bengal border.
Over the years many educated unemployed youths of rural Assam has taken up poultry farming and fish farming as their livelihood. To start their businesses, many of them have taken loans from banks and financial institutions apart from getting various benefits of schemes undertaken or launched by the government from time to time.
Now these upcoming farmers and entrepreneurs are facing a very difficult time as their supply chain of feeds for their farms have broken due to the ongoing lockdown. Today their future is uncertain.
This ongoing crisis if it goes on for few more days, it will play a devastating effect on the rural economy of Assam.
In this time of emergency, Bharatiya Kishan Sangh has come forward to the rescue of the Livestock and Fish farmers of Assam and Northeast region as a whole. In this regard, they have written letters to: 1) The Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modiji
2) The Honourable Chief Minister of Assam Shri Sarbananda Sonowal
3) The Honourable Agriculture Minister of Assam Shri Atul Bora.
In their letters to the respective Ministers they have highlighted some valuable points:
1) The loaded trucks of animal feeds that has been blocked in other states should be brought to Assam and dispatch to the respective districts immediately.
2) The distribution of animal feeds may be done through restricted PASS to the farmers through adminstration/police
3) Measures should be undertaken strictly to control the price of animal feeds so that the farmers do not have to purchase at a higher price.
4) Selling of milk and milk products through proper administrative control.
On the other hand, various agricultural products numbering in thousand of tons, of 15 districts in Assam are still with the farmers who are unable to sell or dispatch them to the markets.
In this regard, Bharatiya Kishan Sangh has communicated the matter to the Assam Government, and the government responded by providing a helping hand in turn. As of now the state government has made arrangements to sell agricultural products of 14 districts out of 15, through the respective district administrations.
Apart from writing letters to the Central and State governments, and communicating with the government in various levels, Bharatiya Kishan Sangh is helping the distressed farmers in whatever means they could to overcome the crisis faced by the farmers in this period of National Emergency.
