Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers protest, want ordinances annulled

Jalandhar, September 7As many as 250 farmers from the district on Monday assembled outside the District Administrative Complex and held an agitation against the new agriculture ordinances promulgated by the Central Government.The farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee announced to continue with their state-level agitations against the government for the next seven days. In a strange manner, they also pressurised the government to withdraw the anti-farmers ordinances or lodge them inside jail.Salwinder Singh Jahnia, district president of the committee, said the committee members had formed a group of 11 farmers who would daily appear at the Deputy Commissioner’s office to get them arrested.Worried over the discontinuation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) structure, they raised anti-government slogans and showed their dissent against the ordinances passed by the Modi-led Union Government.Declaring the Capt government as a failed government that couldn’t benefit farmers, the farmers demanded that the ordinances be withdrawn. They also threatened to intensify their protest if the government failed to meet their demands.Jania further said, “Farmers are against the three ordinances — Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance — 0which the Centre had promulgated. Besides, we also oppose the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, as it may adversely hit free power to farmers.“As compared to the farmers in the neighbouring states, we are paying the highest electricity bills. Therefore, we demand that the farm ordinances be withdrawn and the electricity tariffs and fuel prices be revised for farmers,” he added.The protests will be held in all the districts under the supervision of Satnam Singh Pannu, state president of the committee.Agitation in Hoshiarpur tooThe Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti held a protest demonstration against the Centre in front of the Hoshiarpur District Administrative Complex also. Farmer leaders Surinder Singh and Manjit Singh said these ordinances brought by the Centre were completely anti-farmer. They said these would lead to economic exploitation of farmers and unemployment will increase among farm workers as well. They said farmers would start the Jail Bharo movement to get these ordinance cancelled and the struggle would continue till the government cancels these ordinances. OC

The Tribune

2020-09-08