Farmers block roads in Punjab against slow paddy purchase

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) activists on Friday blocked roads across Punjab to protest the slow paddy procurement, leading to traffic disruptions and inconveniencing commuters at many places.

In Ludhiana district, farmers staged dharnas on roads at Samrala, Khanna, Doraha, Machhiwara, Jagraon, Mullanpur and Raikot.

SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “Both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab and the BJP-led central government are equally responsible for this mess.”

He said they should not play the blame game at the cost of farmers and the economy of the state.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) Ludhiana district president Charan Singh Noorpura and district general secretary Sudagar Singh Ghudani said that corporate entities are taking advantage of open market policies that undercut small-scale farmers.

The protest started at 11am and continued till 3pm.

In Kapurthala, agitating farmers blocked traffic on the Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway at Hamira, at Dhilwan toll plaza, Kapurthala-Goindwal road near Mundi Maur villae and Kapurthala-Sultanpur Lodhi road near New Grain Market.

While staging dharnas in the middle of the road to express their anger against the slow purchase and lifting of the kharif crop, they alleged that farmers were being fleeced by private traders by offering them less than the minimum support price rates.

Punjab Kisan Union (Baghi) state general secretary Gurdeep Singh claimed their protest was going on at many places in Kapurthala.

The protesters also criticised the Punjab government’s decision to reduce DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) fertiliser stocks by 30%. They demanded an unconditional, steady supply of DAP for crop health.

In Hoshiarpur, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) led the farmers’ protest outside the main grain market. Farmers blocked the Phagwara bypass for four hours and held a demonstration against the Centre and state government. Farmer leaders Jagtar Singh Bhinder and Harbans Singh Sangha said that the farming community was facing its worst-ever crisis and both the governments were responsible for this.

Activists of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) staged a dharna outside the Reliance Mall in Bathinda. The farmers blocked the Mansa-Sunam road in Mansa district against the slow procurement.

Meanwhile, the indefinite protest by farmers under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba) in Phagwara entered its fifth day on Friday.

BKU(D) general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni said a massive rally and demonstration would be held on Saturday. The BKU(D) is a constituent of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM).

The KMM on Thursday had said it would block roads at a few places in Punjab for an indefinite period from October 26 to protest slow paddy procurement and other issues.

Procurement has been hit after state rice millers refused to mill the paddy till their demands were met. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday had spoken to Union home minister Amit Shah, urging him to address the issues of the state rice millers.

While the ruling AAP has blamed the BJP-led Centre for not evacuating foodgrain stock in the state to create sufficient space for storing fresh crop, the opposition Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government for the slow paddy procurement. (With PTI inputs)