Children take out march to express solidarity with farmers

New Delhi, Jan 31 (UNI) Hundreds of children today took out a procession to the Agriculture Ministry to protest the ''disastrous agrarian policies'' of the government and express concern with farmers across the country.

The procession, organised by rights group Lok Raj Sangathan, comprised both girls and boys and had a delegation of orphaned farmers' children from Punjab leading.

At the conclusion of the rally, Lok Raj Sangathan president S Raghavan read out the memorandum, later submitted to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. It sought urgent action by the ministry to ensure the livelihood of each agricultural family whose breadwinner had committed suicide including a cash grant of Rs one crore each, cancellation of all debts, guaranteed procurement of crops at remunerative prices, comprehensive policies on agriculture, ban on agricultural imports, benefits for farmers on par with industrial workers, and a ban on genetically modified crops.

UNI VD MSJ HT1650