Farmers to continue protest till their meeting with ailing CM on Wednesday
Monday, 25/01/2016
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MOGA: Though chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is not well and all his appointments have been cancelled for the next week, yet the farmers, protesting in Rai Ke Kalan village in Bathinda, have decided not to lift their protest till their meeting with the chief minister scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
Farmers holding a protest at Rai Ke Kalan village in Bathinda on Sunday.
All the appointments of the CM have been cancelled for a week following as he is undergoing treatment at PGI, Chandigarh, for congestion and fever.
Representatives of eight farmer and four farm labour unions, protesting under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU), held a secret meeting, presided over by Jhanda Singh Jhethuke, senior vice-president of BKU, in Moga on Sunday and extended the date of protest from January 24 to 27.
During the meeting, farmers also decided to shift the being held at Amritsar to Rai Ke Kalan from Monday.
“Farmers will lift their protest from Amritsar and join the protest at Rai Ke Kalan from Monday,” Jhanda Singh said, while addressing the meeting.
He said that they would decide the next course of action after the meeting with the CM and, if he will not be able to attend the meeting due to his health problem, they will intensify their protest after a meeting with all the union members on January 27.
The farmers, who were to move to Badal village for holding a protest, cancelled their move on January 22 after the Bathinda district administration fixed their meeting with the CM on January 27.
While labour unions are demanding compensation for crop loss of ` 20,000 per acre for each labourer, farmers are demanding a permanent solution to the stray cattle menace, free power supply of 400 units to labourers, hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, , including PUSA 1509 and PUSA 1121 varieties, and implementation of the Swaminathan panel report. They are also demanding the suspension of state agriculture minister Tota Singh and the lodging of a first information report (FIR) against him for the destruction of the cotton crop.
