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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmers’ unions bring state to halt

Farmers’ unions bring state to halt

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published Published on Oct 30, 2010   modified Modified on Oct 30, 2010

Block vehicular and railway traffic across Punjab, demand relaxation of paddy procurement norms

Various factions of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and organisations of landless labourers blocked the railway traffic at Moga and ten other locations in Punjab on Friday. They also halted the vehicular traffic on many highways, demanding relaxation in the procurement norms of paddy.

The protesters claimed that adverse weather conditions had affected the quality of grains, and said they should not be made to suffer for this.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary of BKU (Ekta) who led the agitation at Moga, announced that the blockade would continue till their demands were met by the Union and state governments.

He added: “The procurement agencies of the state government have joined hands with the Food Corporation of India and exploiting the farmers. While FCI is not lifting paddy, the state agencies are cheating the farmers by less amount on the plea of moisture content.”

The demands of farmers include raising the permissible moisture limit of paddy from the existing 17 per cent to 22 per cent and the damage limit from 4 to 12 per cent.

Accusing the Union and state governments of adopting discriminatory policies towards farmers, Kokri said the Central team’s visit to Punjab to assess the loss of paddy was a mere eyewash.

The railway traffic was blocked on the Moga-Ludhiana rail line at Bughipura on the outskirts of Moga town, Ajit Gill village in Faridkot district, Rampura Phul in Bathinda district, Khudi Kalan in Barnala district, Mansa town, Nabha in Patiala district, Chajli in Sangrur district, Gidderbaha in Muktsar district, Guru Har Sahai in Ferozepur district, Jagraon in Ludhiana district and Beas in Amritsar district.

Ferozepur Divisional Railway Manager Neeraj Sahay said traffic at some places was regulated and some local trains were cancelled as a precautionary measure. “If the protest is held for a longer period, long-distance trains will be regulated, too,” he added.

The organisations that participated in the protest were BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), BKU (Krantikari), Punjab Kisan Sabha, Kirti Kisan Sabha, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Kirti Kisan Samiti and some labour organisations.

More than a dozen trains, including Shatabdi Express, Shan-e-Punjab and Flying Mail, were cancelled as farmers laid siege to the railway tracks at Beas railway station on the Amritsar-Delhi line.

“We will not allow the trains to run even during the night. We started the blockade in the afternoon and it will continue till tomorrow,” said a protesting farmer leader.

No reimbursement of the electricity bills paid by farmers, meagre rise in the minimum support price of wheat and no compensation to the farmers having land across the the barbed fence on Indo-Pak border were some of the other issues that angered the farmers.

Railway passengers, meanwhile, had a tough time as they were trapped at the railway stations. Many trains were stopped at Jalandhar and the passengers had to come to Amritsar by buses and taxis.


The Indian Express, 30 October, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/farmers-unions-bring-state-to-halt/704643/


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