51 trains cancelled; commuters suffer as farmers lay siege on tracks in Punjab

Members of various farmers’ bodies on Thursday squatted on train tracks at several places in Punjab as they began a three-day ‘rail roko’ agitation over their various demands, including financial package for losses caused by recent floods, legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) and debt waiver. According to protesters, the agitation will continue till September 30.

The movement of several trains was affected and according to railway officials, several trains were either cancelled or short-terminated because of the farmers’ agitation.

Several farmer bodies, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari), BKU (Ekta Azaad), Azaad Kisan Committee Doaba, BKU (Behramke), BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), and BKU (Chottu Ram), were participating in the protest.

In Jalandhar, the activists of Kisan Majdoor Sangrash Committee (KMSC) and 18 other farmers’ unions blocked railway tracks in Jalandhar Cantonment on Thursday. Several trains including Shan-e-Punjab and Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi were cancelled.

Sukhwinder Singh, state president of KMSC, said they are demanding guaranteed 200 days employment to the labourers, new MSP policy, adequate compensation, including ₹50,000 per acre for loss of crop due to recent floods in Punjab, mining rights to land owners on whose agricultural land the sand has accumulated due to floods, stringent action against the drug smugglers and implementation of Swaminathan report.

Professor MS Swaminathan, who died on Thursday, headed the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) and submitted five reports between 2004 and 2006 to enhance the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of farming systems in India.

91 trains affected

A total of 51 trains were cancelled in the Ferozepur railway division with a total of 91 trains affected as members of various farmers’ bodies squatted on train tracks at 13 railway stations and various railway crossings. The railway stations were blocked at Ferozepur Cantt, Fazilka, Mallanwala (Ferozepur), Gole Wala (Faridkot), Moga city, Ajitwal (Moga), Jalandhar Cantt, Hoshiarpur, Manawala (Amritsar), Tarn Taran, Majitha (Amritsar) Gurdaspur and Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur).

A railway official of the Ferozepur division said that the services of as many as 91 trains have been hit. “Of those, 50 trains have been cancelled and the remaining, long route trains have been diverted or short-terminated. Amritsar to New Delhi train was sent from Ludhiana, and Fazilka to New Delhi train was sent from Ambala,” he said, leaving thousands of commuters in the lurch. Giving details, a railway official said, apart from trains cancelled, 24 trains were short terminated, while five were short originated. As many as 11 trains were diverted.

Jagtar Singh, a leader of BKU (Krantikari) said “We gave an ultimatum to the Union government a month ago that if our demands are not met we will start a three-day protest. The talks with the Centre government have remained inconclusive, so, we were forced to start an agitation.”

In Amritsar, 19 farm bodies were involved in the protest. Amritsar-Delhi track was closed by protesters at Devidaspur village affecting the train movement and causing inconvenience to the passengers.

“The Union government has been ignoring our concerns for long. It has not extended aid to the flood-affected states”, said Sarwan Singh Pandher, KMSC leader, who is also a member of the coordination committee of the organizations.

In Hoshiarpur, the members of the Azad Kisan Committee Doaba staged a dharna at the local railway station. Addressing the gathering, Azad Kisan Committee Doaba state president Harpal Singh Sangha emphasised the need to enact a law on MSP for various agricultural crops to safeguard farmers from sharp price fluctuations.