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 1977. As usual it had led to consumer unrest. To assuage their feelings and lower the prices, government banned export of onion. Consumers were satisfied with the fall in prices but farmers were upset. The price had collapsed to Rs. 20 to 25 a quintal. Farmers turned up in big number for the meeting. Joshi found the response quite encouraging. Along with other two colleagues he spoke at length at the meeting which ended with loud slogans raising their demands. Many traders and clerks from the Committee office also came out to watch. Passers-by were also curious. Nothing like this had happened in that area before. This was on Saturday, 25 March 1978. It was the very first onion agitation in that area. Though it was the first time Joshi addressed a public meeting, he spoke very convincingly. He explained in detail how he had calculated the cost of producing onion which itself was a revelation for most farmers. He appealed to the farmers that under any circumstances they should not bring their produce to the market unless they were assured of a higher rate of Rs. 45 to 60 a quintal. All farmers readily agreed. They decided to meet like that every day and demonstrate until their demand was met. Next day an even larger crowd turned up. The Market Committee was shocked because no farmer had brought their produce for sale. Committee yard was empty. In that second meeting Joshi announced that unless government assured higher price of Rs. 45 to 60, from April 1 farmers would resort to rasta roko. He repeated that warning in the three successive meetings on the following three days. The news of the farmers’ agitation spread like wild fire. Collector called for an urgent meeting at his office in Pune on the afternoon of 29 March. When Joshi reached the Collector’s office along with his two colleagues, it was already filled to the brim with local politicians 100

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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage