Most demands met, Punjab farmers call off protest

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, May 18

“Tuhannu ki lagda hai, sannu sadkan te rulan da shauk hai,” says a group of farmers from Barari Kalan in Fatehgarh Sahib, as they squat on a road in the sweltering heat. Though happy at the favourable resolution of the stand-off with the Punjab Government today, they wonder why no one hears out the “annadatas” till they are forced to protest on the streets.

Now, paddy transplantation on June 14 & 17

• CM Bhagwant Mann announced a fresh schedule for staggered transplantation of paddy on June 14 and June 17, and restricted the total number of zones to two, instead of five
• He also told farmer leaders that the state government has already issued a notification to procure the entire moong crop at a minimum support price of Rs 7,275 per quintal
• On the issue of bonus on wheat, CM Mann reportedly said the government would discuss it with the Centre, and urge it to compensate the affected farmers at the earliest

However, this time, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was quick to call their representatives for talks and agreed to most of their demands, including advancing the date for paddy transplantation to June 14 and 17 and dividing the state into two zones, instead of five. With most of their demands met, farmers ended their protest and started returning home after Rural Development Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was part of the nearly three hour meeting between the farmers and the CM, went to Mohali and announced the government’s decision.

Policy on panchayat land rights soon

The government will soon come out with a comprehensive policy for bestowing ownership rights on the cultivators who have the possession of panchayat land and have been cultivating it for long. — Bhagwant Mann, Chief minister

“We are not against the direct seeding of rice,” says Joginder Singh, resident of Dall village in Tarn Taran. “But we need water to irrigate the fields and power to run the motors. The power supply is erratic. Sometimes we get it after three days. How can we go for DSR?” he asks.

Hundreds of farmers, who reached Mohali from across the state yesterday, say they are ready to go in for sustainable agriculture, as desired by CM Mann, but the government was not aware of the practical difficulties faced by them. “We are forced to just obey orders. The government does not realise that our entire life depend on a good crop. Already, the yield of wheat crop was less, we cannot take a chance with paddy crop,” Balwinder Singh of Balluana told The Tribune.

These were some of the concerns shared by the 30-odd leaders of the unions led by Jagjit Singh Dallewal with the CM, who agreed to 12 of their 13 demands. Other than the demand seeking Rs 500 per quintal as bonus to farmers whose wheat yield has dropped drastically because of the intense heat wave in March, the government reportedly agreed to all other demands. On the issue of bonus, the CM reportedly said they would discuss it with the Centre, and urge them to compensate the affected farmers.

The CM also said his government would fulfil its promise to ensure MSP of Rs 7,275 per quintal on moong crop and said a notification had been issued. He told farmers that the state government was already finalising the modalities for procuring maize at MSP.

On the issue of MSP for basmati, the CM said he would call on Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday to immediately announce it so as to encourage farmers to go for its cultivation in a big way. He also told SKM members that he would take up the contentious issue of BBMB with Shah for expeditious resolution to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Mann urged the union leaders to give him at least one year to bring farmer-friendly reforms.

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