Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers protest deletion of names on ration card list

Garhshankar, May 27 The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS) led by Kashmir Singh Bhajjal staged a protest in front of the office of the Garhshankar SDM against deletion of poor people names on the ration card list and demanded restoration of the same. They warned that if the cards were not restored soon, the agitation would be intensified. ABKS state vice president comrade Darshan Singh Mattoo and secretary Gurnek Singh Bhajjal said the government should immediately implement recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. They demanded cancellation of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and increase the amount of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme from Rs 6,000 to Rs 18,000 and credit the amount in the accounts of farmers. Matto said compensation of rupees 20,000 per acre should be given for the crop damaged by rains. He said compensation should also be given to the farmers for the loss of vegetables, fruits and milk due to Covid-19 lockdown and curfew. Protesters demanded that Rs 7,500 should be deposited in the accounts of the farm labourers. He said 14 essential items should be supplied to every needy family without any discrimination and compensation of Rs 20 lakh should be given to the families of those who died of Covid-19. Harbhajan Singh Atwal and Dilbag Mahdood said the government had allowed the sale of fuel at discounted rate of Rs 22 per liter for ships, but farmers were deprived of the same discounted rate on diesel. Farmer leaders Gopal Singh Thandi, Karnail Singh Posi, Gurdial Singh Mattoo, Jaswinder Singh Dhamai and Paramjit Ramgarh were present at the protest site.

The Tribune

2020-05-28