PATNA: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met Makhana farmers in their farms in Katihar during his on-going ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’. In a video, Rahul was seen entering the pond along with farmers and interacting with them. Notably, Bihar contributes to 90 percent of Makhana production in India. Later, Rahul shared pictures on ‘X’ and wrote, “Bihar produces 90 percent of the world’s makhana, but the farmers and labourers who toil day and night under the sun and also in rain do not even earn one percent of the profits. Today, I met these farmers in their fields and learned about their struggles. In big cities, it sells for Rs 1000-2000 rupees per Kg, but these hardworking people, the foundation of the entire industry, receive only a nominal price.” “Who are these farmers and labourers? Extremely backwards, and Dalit-Bahujan. All the hard work is done by these 99 percent Bahujans, while the profit goes to just one percent of middlemen. The vote-stealing government neither values nor cares for them – neither providing income nor justice. The right to vote and the right to the fruits of their skill are two sides of the same coin – and we will not let either be taken away,” Rahul added.Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech this year had announced that a special Makhana Board would be set up in Bihar for improving production, marketing, value addition of Makhana. In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Bhagalpur had revealed that he loved makhanas or foxnuts so much so that he had them “at least 300 out of 365 days”.
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