Lemon farmers demand delinking from e-Nam

Eluru: The lemon farmers and hamalis (labourers) laid a siege to the Market Committee office in the market yard here demanding the government abolish the online system e-NAM(electronic National Agriculture Market) in the yard on Wednesday. The farmers and hamalis tried to enter the yard office after the siege creating tense situation at the office.

The farmers and hamalis reached the market yard in the morning and started agitation at the committee office. They raised slogans demanding doing away with online system introduced in the yard for the sale of their produce. Complaining that they were incurring losses due to the e-NAM, they wanted the restoration of earlier system.  

Attempts by market committee chairman Pujari Niranjan to pacify them by explaining the benefits of e-NAM, which connects the yard with hundreds of other yards in the country so that farmers could get better price to their produce, did not cut any ice with agitating farmers. When Niranjan was speaking, farmers and hamalis rose to their feet and tried to push away him at one stage.

They withdrew their agitation after some time when the chairman assured them that he would bring the problems of the farmers to the notice of the government. The market yard farmers leaders Nagam Siva, Hamalis leader Reddy Appala Naidu and others led the agitation.