Bhubaneswar: Odisha police have arrested 14 members of a farmers’ body in collection with the picketing of district collectors’ offices.

While nine farmers were arrested from Jagatsinghpur district, five were arrested from Jajpur for locking down the offices of the respective collectors, odishasuntimes.com reported.

The protesters were members of the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS, renovated farmers union). The union had picketed the district collectors’ offices on May 12.

Reacting to the arrest, NKS State Coordinator Akshay Kumar alleged that the state government was conspiring against the farmers.

“Our agitation is nothing new. We have been peacefully demonstrating across the state since past five years seeking price, prestige and pension for the farmers. The police crackdown is intended at scaring the farmers and breaking their unity. This is a conspiracy of the government,” alleged Akshay Kumar.

“We are not going to back down because of the arrests. We would continue to press for 4 percent allocation of the state budget for the benefit of the farmers. Further, the government has to accept the farmer suicides and provide Rs 10 lakh (1 million) compensation to their families,” he added.

The farmers have long been demanding payment of compensation to the families that committed suicide, provision of 5,000 rupees pension for farmers, better procurement facilities, higher minimum support price, better social recognition, and drought compensation among others.

Intensifying their agitation, NKS members on May 12 staged protests in front of the offices of Collectors of Cuttack, Jagasinghpur, Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts.

They locked the main gates of collectors’ offices and staged a sit in demanding that the government acknowledge farmer suicide cases in the state.

The farmers’ body also threatened to continue its stir till the government gave an assurance to fulfill their demands.

“Odisha is an agricultural state. While the government employees are getting seventh pay commission salary and DA and the government is planning to develop various cities as smart cities and planning to run bullet trains, we the farmers do not have irrigation facility in our farming land,” said an agitating member of the sangathan.

“We demand better irrigation facility, setting up of cold storages and godowns. If the governments fail to fulfill our demands we will intensify our stir in the future,” he added.