Farmers block trains for 3 hrs, seek relief for pest-infested cotton crop

Tarn Taran, September 22

Farmers under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) staged a dharna on the rail tracks at the Patti railway station and blocked trains for three hours from 12 noon to 3 pm here on Thursday. They were demanding the fulfilment of current demands of farmers. The train services remained affected due to the dharna in the district.

While addressing on the occasion, Gurbaj Singh, district president of the union, condemned the policies of the Centre and the state government, which had failed to protect the interests of the farming community.

He said the AAP government was in no mood to provide compensation to the farmers whose cotton crops had been ruined after the Gulabi Sundi attack and due to duplicate insecticides. Instead of providing incentives to farmers to exhort them not to burn paddy stubble, the NGT was bent upon taking stern action against the farmers by imposing fines and punishment.

Hardeep Singh, Daler Singh, Sukhwant Singh Valtoha among others highlighted others problems of the farmers.