Farmers from Haryana who had blocked the Delhi-Ambala National Highway-44 on Friday over demands for early procurement of paddy have lifted the blockade. The stir was lifted after the farmers had talks with the district administration and they ensured that paddy procurement would start immediately.
Kurukshetra, Haryana | Shahbad admn and farmers reach a consensus; farmers agree to unblock their blockade.
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2022
State govt will procure the paddy kept in mandis, under their monitoring. 'J form' (sale receipt of a farmer's agricultural produce in mandis) will be issued from Oct 1.
"We had talks with the district administration & they've ensured that paddy procurement will start immediately. As our demands have been met, we have decided to lift the blockade on the road," Gurnam Singh Chaduni, President, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Haryana), was quoted by ANI as saying.
#UPDATE | Haryana: We had talks with the district administration & they've ensured that paddy procurement will start immediately. As our demands have been met, we have decided to lift the blockade on the road: Gurnam Singh Chaduni, President, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Haryana) https://t.co/TbMjAzJvFJ
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2022
"The stubborn government has surrendered in front of the farmers' struggle, friends, you have won. The government has agreed to fill the paddy lying in the mandis and that what is expected to come. We will continue to struggle in the coming times too. Thanks to all," he said in a tweet.
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— Gurnam Singh Charuni (@GurnamsinghBku) September 24, 2022
Farmers were seen in large numbers at the GT Karnal Road in Kurukshetra demanding their paddy crops be procured immediately.
According to reports, the government is understood to have agree to procure the paddy lying in the mandis. The farmers had also demanded an increase in calculating paddy yield per acre from 22 quintals to 30 quintals for procurement.
MASSIVE JAM AT HIGHWAY
On Friday, a massive traffic jam was reported after the blockade had caused huge traffic disruptions on National Highway 44 around Kurukshetra. The protesting farmers had parked their tractors on the road, causing which led to a traffic snarl on the highway for commuters travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh.
Gurnam Singh Chaduni, who spearheaded the protest, shared a video, in which the farmers were seen breaking the police barricades put up on the road and jumping over them. “Until our demand is accepted, the blockade will not be removed from the highway,” Chaduni had said.
— Gurnam Singh Charuni (@GurnamsinghBku) September 23, 2022
The protest, during which farmers also parked their tractors on the road, caused inconvenience to commuters using the highway to travel from Delhi to Chandigarh and police had to later divert traffic.
A heavy police force was deployed at Shahabad since Friday morning to maintain the law and order situation. The procurement of Kharif crops, including paddy, in Haryana will start from October 1.
(With inputs from ANI)