Farmers Movement Archive

Jal Adhikar rally: Khattar says agitating farmers should also demand construction of Satluj-Yamuna Link

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday asked farmers protesting against the agriculture laws to include construction of Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) in Punjab as one of their demands during talks with the Union government.While addressing ‘Jal Adhikar rally’ at Mahendergarh’s Narnaul, Khattar said the water table in many parts of the state has gone down and Punjab chief minister has failed to implement the Supreme Court’s direction to hold talks with him to solve the SYL issue.“It is very painful that Punjab has not been giving Haryana’s share of water. The farmers of southern Haryana had been waiting for water for the last many years but after the formation of our government, we provided water in all the canals in the region. Now, our government is planning to start a micro irrigation scheme in southern Haryana so that water can reach every field. In a democracy, we abide by the constitution and Punjab should provide water through SYL to Haryana at the earliest,” the CM added.He said the farmers are being misled by false information on the minimum support price, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) and farming agreement after the three laws were brought by the Centre to bring reform in the agriculture sector.“If the MSP and mandis system is abolished, I will resign from the post of chief minister. I want to assure Haryana farmers that neither will the MSP be put on hold nor will it be revoked. Now, the farmers can sell their produce in the open market, if he gets more price than the MSP and vice versa. In the previous UPA government, a committee headed by former CM Hooda in 2010 had recommended to make new changes in the APMC Act and now they are opposing the same,” he added.Khattar said his government has made 88 out of 104 mandis in the state online and every year Haryana has to suffer a loss of Rs 700 crore due to wastage of food grains.Union minister of state Rao Inderjit Singh asked Haryana CM and state party chief OP Dhankar to hold such rallies in Sirsa and Kurukshetra districts, where the farmers are protesting more against farm laws. “The people of Bagar (southern Haryana) are with the BJP. CM sahab, Dhankar sahab you need to hold such rallies in other parts of the state to apprise farmers about the three farm laws,” he added.Meanwhile, a man was taken into custody after he showed black flags to Khattar during his rally. However, he was released later.Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal, former education minister Ram Bilash Sharma, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh and other senior BJP leaders were present at the rally.

Hindustan Times

20-12-2020

City