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Cane farmers to protest CM’s Ambala visit for pending dues
During his visit to Ambala, Manohar Lal Khattar will chair the Jan Samvad event at Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School in Shahzadpur around noon
Demanding their pending dues, several sugarcane farmers from different rights unions have announced to protest chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar’s visit to Ambala on Sunday.
During his visit, Khattar will chair the Jan Samvad event at Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School in Shahzadpur around noon. Later, he will lay the foundation stone of the domestic airport in Ambala Cantonment with deputy CM Dushyant Chautala and home minister Anil Vij around the evening.
Malkit Singh, district president, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Charuni said the government and administration have not paid heed to their demands and they will gather in Shahzadpur town to take out a protest march if the CM doesn’t give any clarification on pending dues.
Gurnam Singh Charuni, president of the union, said, “There are pending payment dues up to ₹42 crore with the Naraingarh Sugar Mills. Farmers will register their protest with black flags, but will not disrupt the Jan Samwad in any way.”
Sources said four farmer unions have announced the protest and officials of the district administration, including the deputy commissioner (DC), superintendent of police (SP) and area sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) have met with each of them to resolve the issue.
DC Dr Shaleen said they are trying to reach out to the farmers, while an official, not wishing to be named, said a meeting of a delegation has been arranged with the CM to take up their issue.
Ahead of Khattar’s visit, the DC has issued orders under Section 144 of the CrPc banning the use of drones and has declared Ambala as a “red zone” for a day.
On Saturday, he along with other officials inspected the event sites and issued orders to concerned departments.
Khattar will perform bhoomi poojan and lay the foundation stone for the airport on the auspicious first day of Navratri. The airport being developed under the “Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik” (UDAN) scheme, aims to enhance regional connectivity.
The Haryana government and the ministry of civil aviation signed an agreement on July 7, 2017, to provide financial support to airlines and viability gap funding (VGF) for flights on RCS routes. The state government has already allocated 20 percent VGF for RCS-UDAN flights operated from Hisar Airport, a statement read.
He informed that the civil enclave will be established on 20 acres near the Air Force Station in Ambala. This land was taken through transfer from Defence and ₹133 crore was paid by the government in September. An amount of ₹25 crore has also been allocated in the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting to develop the civil enclave.
“The state government has already requested the ministry of civil aviation to consider adding the Ambala-Srinagar route as well as the Ambala-Varanasi and Ambala-Kedarnath routes to RCS flight. This will prove instrumental in providing air connectivity from Ambala and surrounding areas to destinations in the northern states, including Agra, Varanasi and Kedarnath,” the statement added.
