Jaipur: The indefinite hunger strike led by Naresh Meena, chief of the Bhagat Singh Sena and a farmers’ leader, entered its ninth consecutive day on Saturday.
Meena has been demanding solutions to various farmers’ issues, including the shortage of fertilisers.
Amid concerns over his deteriorating health following the prolonged fast, officials from the Baran district administration and police took him to a hospital for treatment.
According to reports, medical examinations revealed that Meena’s blood sugar level had fallen below 60, raising concerns about his health.
Administrative and police officials reached his native village, Nayagaon Nanavta, on Saturday and arranged for his hospitalisation.
Despite his health concerns, Meena maintained that he would continue his indefinite hunger strike until the farmers’ demands were fulfilled.
As Meena was being taken to the hospital, villagers present there raised slogans in his support and demanded that the administration address the farmers’ grievances without delay.
Concern has grown among his supporters and villagers over his declining health. The focus is now on the administration’s response to the farmers’ demands and the steps it takes to resolve the issues that have led to the hunger strike.
His demands include ensuring an adequate supply of DAP and urea, ending the forced bundling of fertilizers with other products (tagging), and curbing fertilizer black-marketing. He has also demanded that water reach tail-end areas of the Chambal and Bisalpur canal systems.
Other key demands include 10 hours of daytime electricity for agricultural activities, the release of pending agricultural electricity connections, and crop-loss assessments to facilitate insurance claims and compensation for affected farmers.
He has also called for financial assistance to accident victims, subsidies on agricultural machinery, remunerative prices for agricultural produce, and the provision of free gravel (bajri), along with the withdrawal of cases related to its distribution.
In addition, he has highlighted the need to improve conditions in prisons and ensure inmates receive nutritious food.
Meena has urged the Baran district administration to address several local issues. These include curbing alleged arbitrary actions by the Forest Department in the Nahargarh–Jalbada region and ensuring employment opportunities and fair wages for local residents at the Kawai–Chauki plant.
He has also demanded repairs to the motors of the Ganeshganj Lift Canal to restore water supply, action against illegal liquor operations and their distribution networks, and the clearance of pending payments to milk producers.
Police and administrative officials are closely monitoring Naresh Meena’s hunger strike and are attempting to persuade him to call it off.
However, Meena remains firm on his demands. He has also appealed to his supporters not to pressure him to end the fast, maintaining that the issues he has raised must be addressed.
–IANS–
