Rs 20L relief given to kin of 4 deceased

Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 21

The district administration has provided a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the next of kin of four farmers, who had died during the ongoing protest against the farm laws.

Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma today said Rs 5 lakh was handed over to each of the bereaved families on the instructions of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had allocated the amount from the CM’s Relief Fund.

He said the case of the fifth farmer, who had also died during the protest, was being processed and the compensation would be handed over to his family shortly. So far, five farmers from Ludhiana district have died due to different reasons during the protest.

The farmers who had lost their lives included Baljinder Singh of Jhamat village in Payal subdivision, who had died in a road accident near Kurukshetra (Haryana) when he was returning home on December 1 last; Gurmeet Singh of Machhiwara who died of a heart attack at the railway station in Samrala on November 18 last; Gajjan Singh of Khatra village near Samrala who died during farmers’ protest at Delhi border on November 29 last; and Harminder Singh Rai of Jangpur village who died in a road accident while returning from the protest on December 21 last.

“The Punjab Government is committed to provide relief to the farmers who are protesting against the farm laws of the Union Government on the Delhi borders,” said the DC.