Farmers block highway in Mysuru, Mandya

The protest was in support of legal guarantee for MSP

Farmers belonging to various groups created road blockade at different places in the district on Friday in support of their demand for a legal backing for implementation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the Centre and withdrawal of the land reforms act and the APMC amendment act by the State.

Nearly 100 farmers sat on a dharna at the intersection of the Outer Ring Road and the Mysuru-Nanjangud highway creating a traffic jam and throwing vehicular movement out of gear for nearly 3 hours from around 11 a.m. The farmers also herded their livestock which were stationed on the highway to effectively check the movement of vehicles. Subsequently the vehicles were diverted till the blockade was lifted at around 2 p.m.

Another group of farmers assembled in large numbers and staged a similar demonstration near Srirangapatna. The demonstration and highway blockade was part of a nation-wide dharna called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation of various farmers’ groups to pressure the Centre to enact a law ensuring legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce.