Farmers Movement Archive

Hopeful of services resuming: Congress MPs from Punjab after Amit Shah meeting

CHANDIGARH: Congress MPs from Punjab met Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday to demand resumption of freight train services in the state even as Railway Board expressed reluctance to accept the state’s demand to start only freight service and not passenger trains, posing a new challenge for the state government to make the farmers agree to this. Sources said railways minister Piyush Goyal, who was also present in the meeting, said it was difficult for the railways to run only freight service selectively. Also, he added, passenger trains needed to be brought back in view of higher demand during festival season. The MPs, however, asked him to relent and keep passenger service on hold for now until farmers’ bodies were made to come around by the state government. Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla told TOI: “The meeting was held in a congenial atmosphere and Shah gave us a patient hearing. We are hopeful train services will be resumed soon, so the state is not pushed further into an economic crisis.” “We informed the home minister that rail tracks had been cleared of all blockades on Saturday. The railways would now want to check the tracks for technical specifications. He told us that the Centre was also keen on resolving the deadlock. We also gave our feedback on the farm laws and conveyed the sentiments of farmers,” added Aujla. Khadoor Sahib MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa added the meeting was not the same as the one with the railways minister earlier this week. “We also appraised the home minister about other issues of the state, including the Centre putting Rs 1,100-crore rural development fund (RDF) on hold and delay in release of Punjab’s share of goods and service tax (GST) compensation. There was also discussion on the state’s internal security,” he said. “Punjab CM Amarinder Singh already had a word with Shah on phone before we met. We were told that the railways too was keen on resuming services. As for the insistence of farmers to allow only freight trains, we are hopeful the issue will be amicably resolved,” he said. During a meeting with Piyush Goel on Thursday, the MPs had gotten agitated when he accused the Congress government in Punjab of supporting the farmers’ agitation and not endorsing the farm laws. “There was no reference to that meeting today,” said Dimpa.

The Times of India

2020-11-08

Chandigarh