A group of farmers' outfits today blocked traffic at several places in Punjab over their demand for a complete debt waiver. The seven groups protested at Sunam, Dirba, Lehraghaga, Malerkotla, Bhawanigarh in Sangrur, Patiala chowk in Patiala, Lehra Mohabbat in Bathinda, Gill Kalan in Moga, Barnala, Raikot and Fazilka. The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), BKU (Dakonda), Kirti Sangharsh Committee, BKU (Krantikari) and Kirti Kisan Union participated in the agitation. The protesting farmers claimed that the police took more than three dozens of farmers into preventive custody at Rajpura in Fazilka and Talwandi Mange Khan in Ferozepur. The farmers have been seeking complete debt waiver from the Congress-led Punjab government.
They have also been demanding Rs 10 lakh compensation and government jobs for the family of those farmers who committed suicide. The state government had recently announced the farm debt waiver in which crop loan waiver for upto Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (up to 5 acres) and Rs 2 lakh relief for all other marginal farmers, thus benefiting over 10 lakh farmers.
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