No farmer died in UP during protests against farm laws, says CM Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow: No farmer died in Uttar Pradesh in the farmer protest that started in November 2020, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday in a reply to a question in the legislative assembly about the number of farmers from the state who passed away in the year-long protest and whether the government was planning to compensate their families.

The CM, who also heads the revenue portfolio, replied to the question tabled by SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra. His reply came two months after Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said in a reply in the Lok Sabha that the issue of compensation to families of the deceased farmers rested with the state governments. The CM's reply thus has reflected the state's stance on compensation.

The issue of compensation to farmers had gained prominence ahead of assembly elections in five states earlier this year. Congress-ruled Punjab paid Rs 5 lakh each to families of nearly 400 farmers who had died in the protest and also provided jobs to 152 next of kin to such farmers. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had promised Rs 25 lakh to families of such farmers in the state if his party came to power.

The Telangana government has promised payment of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of 750 farmers estimated to have passed away, irrespective of which state they hailed from. Recently, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao was in Chandigarh where he met bereaved families of the deceased farmers and handed over the compensation to them. The UP government, however, had provided Rs 45 lakh each to families of the four protesting farmers who were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri last year.

"About 15 farmers from UP passed away during the protest," Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesman Rakesh Tikait told ET. "While Punjab and Telangana have provided compensations officially, BJP-ruled Haryana has also provided compensation to 134 such families but in unofficial form - through cash and not cheques. We will request the UP government too to work out any help they can, either officially or unofficially."