Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers protest fuel price hike, power cuts

Members of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Ekta Ugrahan, today held a protest outside the District Administrative Complex against the Centre and state governments over hike in prices of LPG cylinders and fuel and power cuts in the state.Protesters said the state government had given an assurance to farmers that they would be provided uninterrupted electricity supply for eight hours for crops, but failed to do so. They demanded that the prices of fuel and LPG, which had increased exponentially, should be reduced.The BKU city unit president, Manjit Singh Nyal, said, “Farmers are facing major problems due to electricity cuts and hike in fuel prices, which complement each other.”“We are getting only five to six hours of power supply with cuts, which is less. This is affecting crop quality. Many farmers have to destroy their crop due to lack of water supply. Also, we have to spend excessively on fuel for running generators and tractors. We want the Centre Government to reduce prices of diesel and petrol and provide relief to citizens,” he added.Another BKY leader Jaswinder Singh said, “The Centre and state governments should have helped people with finances after they lost their near and dear ones during the pandemic. But, they are hiking fuel prices every day, which is adding to their financial burden.”—TNS

The Tribune

2021-07-03

Patiala