Keonjhar: Keonjhar Town police took more than 300 farmers of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NKSS), including women, into custody from Keonjhar Railway Station Monday as a preventive measure while they were heading to Bhubaneswar to take part in the Jan Satyagraha Padayatra. The padayatra is scheduled to start Monday.
The farmers were taken into police custody while they were waiting to board the Keonjhar-Bhubaneswar train, sources said. Subash Panda, coordinator of NKSS, was also taken into custody by police from the spot.
Many farmers who were coming from Kuakhia in Jajpur and Balugaon in Khurda district to attend the ‘Satyagraha’ were also stopped by the police, they said.
Their demands include a security allowance of Rs 5000 per month for all farmers in the state along with an annual budget allocation of Rs 21,600 crore for them by the state government.
PNN