Chandigarh:
The Farmers’ protest entred the third day on Thurdsday with protesters belonging to Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) blocking the railway tracks in Punjab. The third round of talks between the farmer leaders and the government is also set to take place today at 5 pm. The farmers have put forth 12 demands before the central government for which they’re marching to Delhi. The protest this time has been called by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee led by farmer union leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher. Amid the ongoing farmers protest, heavy security and multilayered has been deployed at the borders of the national capital and Section 144 has been imposed to averet any untoward incident. Internet services have been suspended in certain areas of Punjab’s Patiala, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts till February 16 on the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
They are demanding to enact a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, in line with the Swaminathan Commission report. They are also demanding a complete debt waiver and a scheme to provide pensions to farmers and farm labourers. The farmers have also urged to scrap the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and are demanding to reintroduce the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, ensuring consent from farmers and compensation at 4 times the collector rate.
A meeting with three Union ministers will take place again on Thursday evening at 5 pm in Chandigarh to discuss the various demands of the farmers. The Centre called the farmer leaders for the third round of talks in a week, after the previous two meetings held on February 8 and 12 did not yield any results. The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) sateged ‘Rail Roko’ blocking railway tracks at seven locations in Punjab on Thursday BKU (Ekta Ugra-han) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the protest will continue till 4 pm today.
