Amid power shortage, Punjab farmers announce protest against AAP govt 

CHANDIGARH: The farmers and the AAP Government in Punjab are heading for a confrontation as the government has called upon the farmers to go for staggered paddy transplantation and adopt the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique to avoid worsening of the power crisis.

The call has not gone well with the farming community as it had rejected the electricity supply schedule for the upcoming paddy sowing season issued by the state government and had asserted that they would start transplanting paddy from June 10. 

The government has decided to stagger paddy transplantation into four phases starting June 18 by, for the first time, dividing the state into four zones, in an effort to reduce the use of power during the peak season.

A few days back the meeting between the farmers' unions and Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited Chairman-cum-Managing Director Baldev Singh Sra failed to break the deadlock on the issue.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced an indefinite 'Delhi model' agitation (The large-scale agitation against the three farm laws) against the state government in Chandigarh from May 17.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of twenty-three farmers' unions held in Ludhiana a few days ago. 

Senior SKM  leader and General Secretary of BKU (Lakhowal) Harinder Singh Lakhowal said they had met the chief minister Bhagwant Mann on April 17 in the meeting the government assured them a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal on wheat, MSP on maize and basmati but till date, nothing has been done. We have given one month’s time to the government to fulfill our demands and but the government failed to do so. Hence, we will start an indefinite agitation in Chandigarh. A tractor-trailer march will be held to commence agitation,
said Lakhowal

Terming the government's move as a one-sided decision, Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said that the state government needed to call a meeting with the farmers before announcing dates for paddy transplantation.

The state government, for the first time, has decided to stagger the paddy transplantation into four phases starting from June 18. In an effort towards reducing the use of power during the peak season, the state has been divided into four zones.

BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that it was wrong to blame only the farmers for the falling underground water levels. The government must remember that before Green Revolution, paddy was never the crop of the state. The government aid of Rs 1,500 for direct seed plantation of paddy was not enough. The government needs to give at least Rs 10,000 per acre to cover farmers’ risks. 

"The government has still not given a guarantee on the MSP of alternative crops, including maize, moong dal and basmati rice,’’ he said.