ALLEGING THE state government was not registering a case nor was acting against any erring officers in what it claimed to be adulteration in a groundnut stock stored in a godown in Gandhidham town of Kutch district, Congress on Sunday began three-day Khedut Samvedana Yatra, a tractor march from Gandhidham to state capital Gandhinagar.
Senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia flagged off the Khedut Samvedana Yatra to show compassion to farmers from near the statue of Sardar Patel in Gandhidham town. Farmers riding 52 tractors joined the march led by Pal Ambaliya, convenor of farmers’ cell of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, and Yajuvedrasinh Jadeja, president of Kutch district unit of Congress. Ambaliya said the march will traverse through Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad before culminating in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
“Since the time adulteration came to light in groundnut stored in a godown in Pedhla last year, we have been demanding that stock of the oilseed stored in every godown be checked. But the government is turning a deaf ear to our complaints and instead asks for a formal complaint and evidence. There was corruption in procurement of toor (pigeon pea) in Junagadh this year. Now, stones and pebble have been found in a groundnut stock in a godown in Gandhidham. There is a police complaint in this regard and there is evidence also, but no one is taking action. Therefore, as asked by the deputy chief minister, we are going to Gandhinagar to produce CDs as evidence,” Modhwadia told The Indian Express over phone.