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Farmers call off 19-day protest outside Punjab CM’s Sangrur house
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta-Ugrahan leaders meet Punjab agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal in Patiala, decide to end stir on Saturday after government gives written assurance on their demands
After 19 days and several rounds of talks, farmers protesting outside chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s private residence in Sangrur on Friday agreed to end their protest as the Punjab government gave a written assurance that it had accepted their demands.
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Farmers will end their protest on Saturday as they have already given a call to organise a rally at the protest site. The protest will conclude after the rally.
They have been on an indefinite protest outside the CM’s residence since October 9. They have blocked the 3-km stretch leading up to Sangrur from the Patiala-Bathinda highway.
The government and farmers reached an agreement after agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and the state leadership of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta-Ugrahan met in Patiala on Friday.
Officials said that the government agreed to implement their demands within a fixed time-frame.
Sangrur deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal, who attended the meeting, said, “The state government has agreed to the farmers’ demands so they have agreed to lift the protest on Saturday.”
The farmers were demanding the release of compensation to growers for damaged crops and for the death of cattle due to lumpy skin disease. They also sought enhancement in land acquisition relief.
Other major demands include the closure of a liquor manufacturing unit at Mansurwal village near Zira and cancellation of cases registered against farmers for burning crop residue and protesting along with a bonus of ₹200 per quintal for the management of stubble without burning it, besides compensation and jobs for family members of two farmers, who died during the protest. The bodies of these farmers are still kept in the mortuaries of the Sangrur civil hospital and Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala.
“After discussion on each demand at a meeting with the state government on October 7, the chief minister had agreed to accept our demands. However, we were given nothing in writing. Now the government has given a written assurance and fixed time for implementing the demands,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, state president of the union, after the meeting.
