Farmers Movement Archive

Wheat procurement resumes in Ambala as arhtiyas call off strike

A day after commission agents called off their two-day strike against direct benefit transfer to farmers, wheat procurement that had halted in the intervening days resumed on Saturday. The procurement drive garnered a good response as farmers reached the grain market in their tractor-trolleys and qued up to get their mandatory gate passes. Ambala New Grain Market Commission Agents’ Association president Duni Chand said the strike had been called off after a meeting with the state government. “Officials of the concerned department told us that they had already written to and discussed the issue with the Union government, which will take a final call. In the interest of farmers, the strike was called off last night,” he said. A farmer from Bhanoukheri village, who had come to the mandi with his crop, said he had been waiting on tenterhooks for the strike to end and came to the market after consulting his commission agent: “The process is going smoothly. Most farmers are in favour of optional payment as our agents are always available to get funds in emergencies,” he said. On April 9, a group of farmers affiliated with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU, Charuni) led by Jai Singh Jalbera had protested outside the commission agent association presidents’ office demanding that procurement of the crop that had already reached the mandi be initiated. A farmer in the group had said that the strike had only been called by commission agents and had nothing to do with farmers. However, Chand denied the allegations and the Union’s district president Malkit Singh, too, dismissed them as ‘personal rivalry’. Only 54 metric tons of wheat was procured at purchase centres in Ambala due to the strike on April 9.

Hindustan Times

10-04-2021

Chandigarh