CH NEWS, HUNSUR
Agitating members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha staged a demonstration outside the Assistant Commissioner’s office on Monday, demanding permission for non-authorized growers to sell their tobacco yield without penal charges.
Gathering before the administrative premises, the protesters shouted slogans condemning both state and central governments for neglecting vulnerable agricultural laborers. Association district secretary Jagadish Surya insisted that farmers cultivating outside standard permit limits must be allowed to auction their produce smoothly, just as in previous years. He noted that the authorities incur no financial losses by accommodating these hard-working families on official platforms.
Taluk secretary H.D. Bireshwar criticized the Tobacco Board for heavily taxing small growers through hefty penalties while now threatening total market exclusion. He explained that despite acute rain deficits, cultivators labored tirelessly to reap their harvests.
Prominent leaders, including CITU representative Basavaraju Kalkunike, taluk unit president M.C. Chandrasekhar, alongside Sakamma, Chandrappa, Vivek, and Ningaraju, led the agitation. Demonstrators affirmed that they will intensify protests until government agencies lift restrictive sales bans and protect struggling rural households.
