Karnataka: Janata 'adalat' to discuss plight of Covid, flood hit ryots

Bengaluru: Like the rest of India, farmers in Karnataka have been facing acute rural distress for the past few years. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown has accentuated their plight.

On one hand while the farmers across the state have been expecting support from the state they are appalled to see that the state government brought in two ordinances which will deeply hurt small farmers – The Karnataka Land Reforms Amendment Ordinance and the APMC act amendment ordinance.

Farmer and civil society organisations have cautioned that this amendment will see a distress sale of farmland by farmers and land under cultivation being further reduced. .

In this backdrop, it was felt that it's important to highlight the importance of land for farming communities, the impact of land loss on agricultural families, on rural areas.

Towards this , the 'Nammoora Bhoomi Namagirali ' campaign, which has been highlighting the potential issues has organized a Janata Adalat, of farmers who have lost their land on Saturday, September 19.

Farmers from across Karnataka who have lost land to various projects (dams, roads, solar parks, mines etc) ; small farmers and workers who have never been able to own lands; farmers who are forced to abandon agriculture , farmers who were forced to sell land will share their experiences.

Twenty four testimonials will be presented at the Adalat.

An expert jury headed by (Retd.) Justice Nagamohan Das and Dr. A.N. Yellappa Reddy, former IFS, Nagesh Hegde journalist, Prof. M. K. Ramesh , Dr. A. R. Vasavi and Smt. Renuka Vishwanath (Retd. IAS officer) as members will hear the farmers and will come out with their verdict on September 24 and presented to the government.