Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers continue sit-in at Ludhiana mini-secretariat

Lambasting the state government for “failing to fulfill promises” made in the past, farmers under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) continued their 24 hour protest inside the Ludhiana mini-secretariat on the third consecutive day on Wednesday.After confining deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Sharma in his office for around four hours on Tuesday, the farmers had ended the ‘gherao’ at night after Punjab chief minister Charanjit Channi invited the union for a meeting on Wednesday.The meeting was subsequently postponed to Thursday, prompting the farmers to resume their sit-in outside the DC office complex. Tractor trailers of the farmers were also parked inside the secretariat on Wednesday.Farmers had launched a five-day protest on Monday, slamming the Congress government over pending demands, including debt waiver as promised by the government ahead of 2017 assembly elections, compensation for damaged cotton crop, payment of increased state advisory price (SAP) for sugarcane among other demands.Farmers’ union general secretary Sudagar Singh Ghudani said, “For now, it has been decided that the day-night protest will continue till December 24. The CM has invited the union for a meeting tomorrow and the future course of action will be chalked out after the meeting. The government has been trying to run away from its promises, but we will continue the agitation till our demands are fulfilled. Most of the demands have already been approved by the government, but those are not being implemented at ground level.”Farmers eat, sleep in tractor trailersPrepared a long-haul, farmers have brought along vegetables, milk, wheat, mattresses and other necessities in their tractor trailers. To beat the winter chill, especially at night, the farmers have completely covered the trailers with plastic sheets. Tea is also served to the protesting farmers and visitors at the DC office.Traffic chaos witnessedWith over a dozen tractor-trailers parked at the entry of mini-secretariat, chaos was witnessed in the vicinity on Wednesday due to congestion. One of the visitors, Vikas said farmers should not harass the public in their fight against the government.

Hindustan Times

23-12-2021

Chandigarh