Congress workers staged a protest in the city on Saturday against the alleged failure of the Central and State governments to address the woes of the common people.
Speaking on the occasion, H.S. Sundaresh, president of Shivamogga District Congress Party (SDCC), slammed the decision taken by the State government to opt for an ordinance route to introduce changes to the Agriculture Produces Marketing Committee(APMC) Act. He said that, at present, APMCs were playing a commendable role in ensuring remunerative and fair price for the agriculture produces. Expressing apprehensions that amending the Act would render the APMC system redundant and thereby leave the farmers at the mercy of the market forces, he said that the move to amend the Act was against the interest of the farmers. He said that before amending the Act, the issue should be discussed in detail in the State Legislature.
Addressing the gathering, Kagodu Thimmappa, former Minister, expressed ire that the recent northward movement in fuel prices has burnt a big hole in the pockets of the common people. He said the BJP-led government at the Centre had failed to come to the rescue of migrant workers who faced hardships owing to lockdown. The major chunk of farmers and workers from the unorganised sector who had suffered financial loss owing to lockdown were yet to receive compensation under the financial package announced by the State government, he alleged.
The protesters submitted a memorandum to the office of Deputy Commissioner in this regard. R. Prasanna Kumar, MLC, and H.M. Chandrashekharappa, former MLA, took part in the protest.
