Miffed that police were not giving them the permission to sell their vegetables, a few farmers at Badwel in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh threw their produce onto the road.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening, when the local police objected to several farmers selling their products on the road near the daily market, citing a breach of physical distancing norms.
According to reports in local media, police have prevented farmers from transporting vegetables to other markets in the town and vacated them from Daily Market.
In a video that has surfaced on social media, the farmers can be seen throwing sacks of onions, tomatoes, beans and oranges on the road, while expressing their anger.
The farmers are from Gollapally in Badwel limits, in Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's native, Kadapa district. They have alleged that they are witnessing huge losses due to the lockdown, which subsequently shut down markets and suspended transport services to sell their produce.
According to these farmers, the government did not arrange facilities to sell their products. “The authorities should have at least allowed us to sell our vegetables locally to avert any financial losses,” one farmer is heard saying in the video. The farmers, while throwing the vegetables on the road, said that the government is not bothered to listen to small farmers who have been hit by the pandemic.
“Neither the government nor the police officials have any problem when the physical distancing norms are breached at liquor stores. It is only when farmers want to sell their produce and get good returns for their hard work that they raise this issue,” another farmer said.
Following the incident, many took to social media to criticise the officials, demanding that the government should allow farmers to sell their products to avert further losses.
Andhra Pradesh Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu, too, reacted to the incident. “The government is not in a position to provide situations that can accommodate farmers to sell their produce. I can see how bad the situation is as the farmers in Giollapalli of Kadapa have thrown their vegetables on road. What is this atrocity, why the rules, which never stopped the sale of alcohol, are coming as a hurdle to sell their crop?" he tweeted
రైతు తన పంటను మార్కెట్లో అమ్ముకునే పరిస్థితులను ప్రభుత్వం కల్పించలేకపోతోంది. కడపజిల్లా, గొల్లపల్లి గ్రామంలో తాము కష్టపడి పండించిన కూరగాయలను రైతులు నడిరోడ్డుపైనే పారబోశారంటే ఎంత బాధాకరమైన విషయం! మద్యం అమ్మకాలకి అడ్డురాని నిబంధనలు పంట అమ్మకానికి అడ్డొస్తున్నాయా? ఏమిటీ దారుణం? pic.twitter.com/WYdoqTVVIq
— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) May 6, 2020
TNM could not reach the local authorities for a comment on the same.