Farmers' leaders to call for Punjab bandh if govt does not initiate talks today
PremiumThe farmers are demanding that the Punjab government raise the state assured price (SAP) of sugarcane and clear payment of arrears to the tune of ₹200-250 crore
Farmers will call for Punjab bandh if the government does not initiate dialogue by Saturday evening, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Doaba's leader Manjit Singh Rai on Saturday during a protest at Jalandhar.
However, Rai mentioned that they are trying to avoid the bandh for tomorrow due to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.
"If the government doesn't hold talks with us by today evening, then we will give Punjab Bandh call. We will try to avoid imposing a bandh tomorrow due to Rakhi," he said.
The farmer leader mentioned that the bandh might be imposed by Sunday evening.
“We will decide by evening if the call of the bandh is required or not. Tomorrow, since brothers and sisters travel to each other's places, we are thinking of imposing the bandh later in the evening or exempting tomorrow completely," said Rai.
"However, if we do not come to any common ground with the government, we will definitely be blocking all the tolls across the state," he added.
He also requested the sisters of the protesting farmers to visit the site of the protest to tie rakhi to their brothers.
Sugarcane farmers blocked highway and railway track in Punjab's Jalandhar on today and demanded that the state government clears their dues.
Traffic movement during the protest
Farmers seeking a hike in sugarcane prices blocked rail tracks and a national highway in Jalandhar on Saturday, impacting the movement of trains and vehicular traffic.
According to railway officials of the Ferozepur division, as many as 50 trains have been cancelled, while 54 have either been diverted or short-terminated.
The farmers have refused to lift the blockade till their demands were met.
Emergency vehicles have, however, been allowed to ply, they added.
The blockade affected traffic to and from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pathankot, though the administration diverted traffic through some alternative routes.
Farmers sitting on the Jalandhar-Chaheru section have blocked the Ludhiana-Amritsar and the Ludhiana-Jammu rail tracks in Jalandhar, affecting several trains, including the Amritsar-New Delhi (02030) and the Amritsar-New Delhi Shane-e-Punjab (04068).
They are demanding that the Punjab government raise the state assured price (SAP) of sugarcane and clear payment of arrears to the tune of ₹200-250 crore.
With inputs from agencies.
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