PMO returns money-order of farmer who sent PM Modi his earnings

Sanjay Sathe, a farmer from Niphad tehsil of Nashik district, had sent Rs 1,064, his earnings from onion sale in the wholesale market, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29 as a protest.

Sanjay Sathe, a farmer from Niphad tehsil of Nashik district, had sent Rs 1,064, his earnings from onion sale in the wholesale market, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29 as a protest. ANI Photo

MUMBAI:  Sanjay Sathe, a farmer from Niphad tehsil of Nashik district, had sent Rs 1,064, his earnings from onion sale in the wholesale market, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29 as a protest. Now his money-order has been returned by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). A few days ago, the local post office informed him that the money-order was not accepted. "I went to the office of India Post in Niphad Monday and received the amount of Rs 1,064," Sathe told PTI. "My only intention was to prompt the government to take some steps to ease the financial stress farmers are suffering from because of the crashed prices," he said. Sathe, who had taken his onion crop to Niphad wholesale market, had received a paltry rate of Rs 1.40 per kg. His act of donating the money to the disaster relief fund of the PMO by making a money-order had made headlines. "I wanted to draw the government's attention to our problems. I am not associated with any political party," he said. "I hope the Union and state governments will take some steps so that onion growers earn more," he said. Citing a media report which mentioned about Sanjay Sathe sending his earnings to PM Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the fall in crop prices saying he was creating two Indias -- one for corporates and the other for farmers. "Modiji is making two Hindustans. One is the Hindustan for Anil Ambani -- who without doing anything, without making an airplane, will get the Rafale contract worth Rs 30,000 crore from Modiji. "The second is the Hindustan for farmers -- whose 750 kg of onion grown after four months of toil will get only Rs 1040 from Modiji," the Congress president had tweeted. The Congress has been attacking the Modi government over issues concerning the farmers, alleging that the government's policies have left them in distress. The government has rejected the claims and pointed out the number of steps it has taken for the welfare of farmers. (With inputs from PTI)