Ongole, March 26: Hundreds of social forestry planters, led by the opposition TDP, CPI, CPI (M) and CPI (ML) New Democracy, laid a siege to the Agriculture Market Committee office here on Friday in protest against withholding of Rs.3 crore due to them.
Tension gripped the area for sometime when irate farmers locked up the AMC office after bringing out all the AMC staff members with no positive response to their various forms of agitation.
Earlier, the agitated farmers staged a sit-in protest in front of the AMC gate and raised slogans against the government for its alleged indifferent attitude towards them. The farmers, however, relented after the state Marketing Department issued direction for immediate release of Rs. 6 crore to the AMC here and other committees in Prakasam district to clear payment of arrears to farmers.
The farmers were upset over withholding of payment for the subabul sold pending resolution of the issue of whether paper mills or farmers should pay the Value-Added Tax.
Leading the protest, CPI-led Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham Prakasam district president K.V.V. Prasad felt that it was improper to withhold payment to farmers by the government which should settle the issue of payment of VAT with the paper mills. TDP Ongole constituency in-charge E. Haribabu said it was unfortunate that the government had kept the collection of VAT issue pending for long.
Paper mills could be made to pay the VAT at the time of procurement from AMCs as they could get refund later at the time of sale of paper, CPI(M)-led AP Kavulu Rythula Sangam district secretary D. Gopinath Reddy said. Prior to introduction of VAT, the government had granted exemption to farmers from payment of sales tax.
Stakeholders’ meet
The AMC should sit with the Commercial Taxes Department officials and convince the paper mills to pay at the time of procurement of subabul and get refund at the time of sale of paper, All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha district leader K. Narasimham said.
Ahead of the meeting of stakeholders convened by the State government in Vijayawada on Saturday, the farmers also pressed for a remunerative price of Rs. 2,500 per tonne for subabul and Rs. 3,000 per tonne for eucalyptus. Thanks to the government encouragement to farm forestry to meet the needs of paper industry, peasants in Prakasam district had raised subabul as also eucalyptus in over 2.50 lakh acres. They had uprooted plantations in over 70,000 acres due to unfavourable market condition.
–Agencies