30 farm unions want Bills rolled back

Tribune News Service
Moga, September 19

On a call given by the All-India Farmers’ Struggle Coordination Committee, at least 30 farmer organisations met here today and demanded an immediate rollback of the farm Bills, which they said were against the farming community in Punjab as well as other states.

Joginder Singh Ugrahan, state president, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), said all farmer organisations had decided to hold a complete bandh in Punjab on September 25 in protest against the Bills. “It will be a complete shutdown of public transport system and business establishments. Trains will be halted at identified locations in the state,” he said.

On September 20 (Sunday), the farm organisations will burn the effigies of PM Narendra Modi at various locations in Punjab to protest the tabling of farm Bills in the Rajya Sabha. The farm organisations in Haryana have also given a call for a complete bandh tomorrow.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), alleged that the Union Government was working on a hidden agenda to abolish the minimum support price (MSP) of foodgrains. “When the government has already proposed delisting the foodgrains from the list of essential commodities, how can you expect that the MSP will continue in the future,” he asked. He said the corporate houses would set up their own system to purchase foodgrains outside the ambit of grain markets, which would lead to a monetary loss of 6 per cent development tax and 2.5 per cent mandi tax.

Dr Darshan Pal, state convener, All-India Farmers’ Struggle Coordination Committee, claimed that the Union Government was also contemplating withdrawal of the direct subsidy on power and fertilisers.