A Farmer, A Megaphone And His Radish Harvest Outside A Govt Office In Karnataka

Last Updated:February 06, 2026, 12:13 IST

“I don’t have cash to pay,” he said through the megaphone, explaining his stand. His message was symbolic: if money was the obstacle, he was willing to offer what he had instead.

On a recent morning in Tumakuru district, visitors to the Madhugiri taluk office were met with an unusual sight. A farmer stood outside the building with a megaphone, speaking calmly but firmly about a problem that, he said, had gone unresolved for months.

Beside him was a scooter loaded not with files or placards, but with freshly harvested radish.

The farmer, Prasanna Kumar from Dodderi Jakkenahalli village, said he has been seeking a proper connecting road to his agricultural land. According to him, the absence of a motorable access road has made it difficult to transport produce and carry out routine farming work.

Prasanna told officials and onlookers that he had repeatedly approached the local administration for help. Over time, the issue moved beyond the village level and reached higher authorities.

Orders Issued, But No Action on Ground

According to Prasanna, the matter was taken up with the Lokayukta, which directed officials to resolve the issue within a month. He also said he approached senior political leaders, including the chief minister and the revenue minister, following which letters were issued asking the local administration to act.

Despite these directions, Prasanna claimed no work had begun even after nearly two months. The lack of progress, he said, pushed him to stage a public protest.

Allegation of Bribe Demand

Standing outside the taluk office, Prasanna alleged that officials linked to the village administration and revenue department demanded money to move the file forward. He accused the village accountant and panchayat-level revenue inspectors of seeking a bribe.

“I don’t have cash to pay," he said through the megaphone, explaining why he chose to bring radish from his field. His message was symbolic: if money was the obstacle, he was willing to offer what he had grown instead.

The Radish Protest Goes Viral

Videos and photographs of the farmer’s protest, radish stacked on a scooter and slogans amplified through a megaphone quickly spread on social media. The visuals drew widespread attention, with many users interpreting the protest as a reflection of frustration with bureaucratic delays and alleged corruption.

Following the online attention, senior officials responded. Gotur Shivappa, assistant commissioner of Madhugiri, said he had instructed the tahsildar to look into the farmer’s complaint on priority.

Officials Deny Bribery Allegations

Revenue officials, however, rejected the farmer’s claims. Srinivas, the current tahsildar of Madhugiri, said the issue was not administrative delay but a family dispute.

According to him, a previous tahsildar had already arranged for an eight-foot-wide road, and an existing asphalted road already provided access to the land. Officials also said they had visited the village and that the remaining disagreement involved relatives and an adjacent plot.

While the farmer maintains that official inaction and alleged bribe demands forced him to protest publicly, authorities insist the road issue has largely been addressed and that the conflict is personal rather than procedural.

With the matter now under scrutiny and senior officials involved, attention has shifted to what action follows and whether the farmer’s access road will finally move from paper to ground.

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