With no money to buy oxen, MP farmer uses minor daughters to plough his farm

Perhaps, acute poverty drove this farmer from Bastanpur Pangari village to use his 13 and 9-year old daughter to pull the plough. This has been going on for the past two years since he has not been able to buy a pair of oxen because of debt. He also said that he has not been able to reap the benefits of the land. The video that emerged showed 13-year old Radha and 9-year old Kunti, roped in with the plough to furrow the field by their 42-year old father Sardar Barela.

Embarassed at the break, the district administration rushed a revenue official to the farmer yesterday. Speaking to PTI Barela said, "As I don’t have money to buy bulls, I have no option but to ask my daughters to pull the plough who have been doing it for the last two years."

Incidentally, Sehore is the home district of the chief minister. Moreover, the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency is also being represented by senior BJP leader and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.  Speaking of educating his daughters, Barela said that he did not have the money to send either 13-year old Radha or 9-year old Kunti to school. 

Speaking to the media, district PRO Ashish Sharma said, "After the incident came to our knowledge, we rushed officials to the village. We will ensure that Barela gets the benefit of the government schemes."

The recent uprising in Mandsaur by peasants demanded a complete loan waiver and better remuneration for their produce. Though the government has announced various measures to placate the farmers, they have refrained from offering any schemes. 

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