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Labourers’ strike impact paddy procurement in Ludhiana
The labourers’ strike comes at the peak of paddy procurement season and the Khanna mandi, one of the largest grain markets in Asia, is at the receiving end
The ongoing strike by mandi labourers protesting low wages on Sunday disrupted paddy procurement in Khanna, Samrala and Jagraon mandis.
The statewide strike, now into its second day, stemmed from the labourers’ dissatisfaction with the meagre wages provided by the department.
Currently, they are paid ₹1.91 for loading a sack and are demanding it to be increased to ₹5 per sack.
The labourers’ strike comes at the peak of paddy procurement season and the Khanna mandi, one of the largest grain markets in Asia, is at the receiving end. The market has over 10,000 labourers.
Darshan Lal, a member of the Anaj Mandi Mazdoor Union Punjab from Khanna, explained, “We have been raising our concerns for several years, and our strike began on Saturday. On Sunday, Khanna sub-divisional magistrate and other authorities reached the mandi and scheduled a meeting with the mandi board chairperson for Monday and a meeting with cabinet ministers on October 11, 2023. After their assurance, we called off the strike and hoped that the government would increase the wages.”
Aarti Union Khanna president Harbans Singh Rosha said around 2 lakh sacks of paddy had arrived in Khanna mandi, 1.5 lakh of which were lifted at the government rate after the strike was called off.
“The district administration has supported assuring the labourers’ demands. Currently they are now paid ₹2.5 for loading private bags and ₹1.91 for government bags,” he added.
Sharing the logistics, district mandi officer Birinder Singh said of 71,068 metric tonnes of paddy purchased by the government, only 30,101 metric tonne was lifted amid the strike.
Market Committee at Mandi Board Ludhiana secretary Harinder Singh, meanwhile, said the strike was localised to the major grain markets in Samrala, Khanna and Jagraon.
