Centre asks states adjoining MP to keep vigil against farmers'

The Centre has asked states adjoining Madhya Pradesh to keep strict vigil against the spread of farmers' protest after five peasants were killed in police firing during an agitation in Mandsaur.
The central government is in touch with states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, and sensitising them against any possible protest by farmers.
The move came after various farmer organisations in Rajasthan and Punjab threatened to launch agitation if their various demands were not met.
The Home Ministry has also dispatched around 200 personnel of the anti-riots Rapid Action Force to Madhya Pradesh in the wake of continued sporadic incidents of violence and farmers protests in some parts of the state.

So far, 1,300 personnel of the paramilitary force were sent to Madhya Pradesh to help the state government restore peace and bring back normalcy.
"The home ministry is in touch with the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh and asked them to keep strict vigil on the prevailing situation," a home ministry official said.

So far, there has been no report from any other state about farmers' protest or any incident of violence.
Referring to Madhya Pradesh, the official said heightened alerts were issued by the local administration in the three divisions in the state -- Satna, Sagar and Rewa -- where sporadic incidents of violence were reported.

Also, there were sporadic incidents of violence in some areas in Sehore where road blockades by farmers led to resorting to lathicharge by police today.
"The situation in Madhya Pradesh is improving," the official said.
In Madhya Pradesh, farmers began protests against low prices for their crops on June 1. The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal where five farmers were killed on June 6, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress.