Farmers Movement Archive

Amid curfew, he is in touch with farmers & solves their problems

Tribune News ServiceAmritsar, April 24At a time when life has come to a standstill due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rattan Singh Randhawa, vice-president, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, has been in touch with farmers on mobile phone and making efforts to resolve their issues.I have been in touch with farmers of around 60 to 70 villages. They contact me every day to tell their issues due to the curfew. As harvesting is going on, farmers have been facing issues in inter-state movement of combines. Farmers, who have their land across the barbed border fence, have also been facing problems in harvesting. Rattan S Randhawa, vice-prez, Jamhoori Kisan SabhaRandhawa, who is also the general secretary, Border Area Sangharsh Committee, said, "I have been in touch with farmers of around 60 to 70 villages. They contact me every day to tell their issues due to the curfew. As harvesting is going on, farmers have been facing issues in inter-state movement of combines. Farmers, who have their land across the barbed border fence, have also been facing problems in harvesting."He said where he could not directly intervene, he guided them. On a number of occasions, he personally intervened and talked to senior officials to solve the issues.For an instance, a BSF official was not allowing some farmers to go across the fence in view of the coronavirus threat even they were ready to follow social distancing norms and wear masks and gloves. The farmers' leader said he had to talk to senior officials in this case.He said farmers nowadays face power issues due to breakdown of transformers.Besides, he read these days to keep himself busy. "Due to activities of the union during the student life, I could not find times to read books, which was my primary hobby. The curfew, which is off course different from that of during terrorism times in the state, gave me times to read books. At that time, we used to carry out activities of struggle against terrorism. I have finished a book on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by Prof Parminder. Besides, I read several foreign authors whose Punjabi translated books are available," he added. Randhawa said he was also trying to learn using social media.

The Tribune

2020-04-25