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Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann invites protesting farmers for talks today
Will take a call on meeting CM only if our supporters who are in custody of Punjab and UT police are released, say farm leaders
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday invited the representatives of farm organisations, commission agents, mandi labourers and rice millers, who are protesting against the alleged tardy procurement of paddy, for a meeting on Saturday.
However, farm leaders, who are protesting at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh, said they would take a decision on meeting the CM on Saturday only if their supporters and activists, who are in the custody of the Punjab and Chandigarh police, are released.
“The CM and government officials knew that we were coming to Chandigarh to protest, but despite that we were stopped and not given free access to Chandigarh. This shows the ulterior motives on the part of the state government. Now we will meet the CM only when our workers are released,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
He claimed that the leaders of various organisations, who were able to reach the Kisan Bhawan, were locked inside. “So we decided to stage a protest inside the Kisan Bhawan,” Rajewal said.
According to Ravinder Singh Cheema, former president of arhtiyas association, who was part of the protesters locked inside the Kisan Bhawan, the CM has invited them for talks at 4 pm on Saturday.
The farmers and other stakeholders involved in the procurement process are demanding that the government should start lifting the produce so that the arrivals are facilitated, farmers are given full payment for their crop (MSP of ₹2,320 per quintal), foodgrains stored in the state godowns of the previous seasons be moved out of the state so as to make space for fresh stocks, and labourers and arhtiyas are given payment as per the APMC Act of the state government.
So far, 18 lakh tonnes of paddy have arrived in the state mandis, and 2.7 lakh tonnes of paddy have arrived on Friday while the state food and civil supplies department has not released the lifting details, which has been a bone of contention in the ongoing paddy procurement. The procurement began in Punjab on October 1 when the state mandi board opened 1,832 mandis for receiving freshly procured grains. Till the past week when 11 lakh tonnes had arrived, the lifting of the crop was less than 10%.
“The entire procurement is suffering because of the lack of lifting of the grain from the mandis as the grain stocks are not being moved from the state,” said Cheema.
He added that the leaders of various farm bodies, arhtiyas, labourers and rice millers have decided to stay put at Kisan Bhawan unless their demands are met.
