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August 25, 2015 at 4:21 am #5964SmitaParticipant
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union today launched a five-day agitation in district headquarters of the Malwa belt in Punjab to protest against the alleged anti-farmer policies of the Centre and the state government. They staged protests at Moga, Barnala, Bathinda, Mansa, Sangrur, Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozepur, and Muktsar today. The protesters called upon the Centre and the state government to take appropriate steps for checking the increasing number of suicides by farmers and landless labourers by framing farmer-friendly policies. The protesters alleged that more than 3.5 lakh farmers and farm labourers had committed suicide in the country in the past five years, which reflected the pathetic condition of the farming community. Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Sukhdev Singh Kokari, President and General Secretary of the BKU, respectively, while addressing the protests demanded a waiver of crop loans and introduction of the Money Laundering Act in Punjab. After this settlement, the farmers should be provided interest-free loans for agricultural purposes like the announcement made by the Haryana Government. All other loans to farmers and poor labourers should be provided at an interest of 4 per cent per year, they said. The protesters demanded that the government must strengthen the cooperative banking system to provide financial assistance to the farming community. Kokri said the Land Ceiling Act should be implemented in the state in letter and spirit. The government must conduct a survey of big farmers and take hold of all surplus land owned by them. Then, this land should be distributed among the landless labourers to raise their socio-economic status, he added. He further said the government should give direct payments to the farmers for procuring their produce at the minimum support price. The BKU leader criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for allegedly not providing ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh each to families of farmers and agriculture labourers, who had committed suicide, besides giving employment to one of their family members. He also condemned the decision of NABARD to reduce the annual financial assistance of Rs 12,600 to Punjab by Rs 3,400 crore during the current financial year. The Punjab Government should press upon the Union Government to roll back this decision or it hit the already declining farm economy. They demanded that the government should pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the farmers who suffered losses with white fly affecting the cotton crop recently. Besides, they also sought release of Rs 400 crore pending against the purchase of sugarcane by the sugar mills. The BKU also extended support to the ex-servicemen’s demand for the implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. Later, delegations of the BKU and its allied unions submitted a charter of their demands to the district magistrates, respectively. The protests were peaceful at all the locations and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
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