Farmers plan 'kisan yatra' against Haryana SEZ policy

New Delhi, Apr 24 (UNI) A group of farmers plan to take out an eight-day 'Kisan yatra' across Haryana to protest the special economic zone (SEZ) policy of the state government.

The proposed yatra, planned by Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, will be flagged off on Saturday and pass through several towns and villages of Haryana.

''The purpose of the yatra is to register our protest against the anti-farmer policies of the central as well as the state government. Haryana government is busy grabbing farmers' lands for the ambitious SEZ projects,'' claimed organisation's president Dr Krishna Bir Chaudhury.

''Haryana is a small, but agriculturally propsperous state with only 20 districts. It has got in-principle approval for setting up 93 SEZs -- 67 are before the Board of Approval. SEZs in an agriculturally propsperous state like Haryana would pose food security problems,''. said Samaj's organising secretary Capt Satbir Singh Gulia.

They claimed that besides the SEZ policy, there were several problems confronting the farmers such as high input costs and low returns.

''The farmers are not benefitting from the rising food prices.

Rising food prices only help the traders and big corporate houses,'' added Chaudhury.

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