Farmers, protesting under the banner of the BKU (EKta-Ugrahan), ended their four-day-old agitation here on Friday after submitting a memorandum to the Union government through the deputy commissioner against the new land acquisition bill.
With the apprehension of farmers taking out a protest march, heavy police force was deployed around the district administrative complex and the children's park, the venue of the protest.
However, the police officials persuaded the protesters to end the protest by submitting a memorandum to a representative of the deputy commissioner that will be forwarded to the Central government.
District president of the union Shingara Singh Mann, addressing the protesters, said that the Union government was working to serve the interests of corporate houses by bring in a 'draconian land acquisition law' where the land will be acquired against the will of farmers and farmers wouldn't even have the right to raise their voice.
He alleged that the anti-farmer policies of the state and central governments were already hitting the farming community and this new law will further aggravate their sufferings. He said that the Union government, despite having promised to do so, was not implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan commission on the minimum support price of agricultural crops.
Meanwhile, in a step towards addressing the issue of a fresh survey of debt-ridden farmers committing suicides, as per directions of the state government, the deputy commissioner has formed three-member committees at the sub-divisional level to inquire into the suicide cases of farmers.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, in a step towards addressing the issue of a fresh survey of debt-ridden farmers committing suicides, as per directions of the state government, the deputy commissioner has formed three-member committees at the sub-divisional level to inquire into the suicide cases of farmers.
{{/usCountry}}A district-level committee comprising the deputy commissioner, the SSP and the chief agricultural officer has already been constituted for this purpose and the DC has further delegated work to sub-divisional level committees.
The committees will inquire into suicides by farmers on or after April 1, 2013. State general secretary of union Sukhdev Singh Khokhrikalan said that the fresh survey should be conducted as soon as possible and victim families should be provided compensation.