Today is the third day of Farmers Protest, a meeting with three union ministers is organised for the third round of talks as previous two meetings went in vain, no conclusion was drawn.
Farmers to block trains today, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) announced a ‘rail roko’ (stop trains) in the state on Thursday between 12 noon and 4 pm on Thursday, February 15.
Several major farmers’ unions have extended their support to the protesting farmer unions at Shambhu border and Khanauri border in Punjab.
A team of Union ministers will hold a meeting with farmer leaders on Thursday evening, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said here.
The meeting will be held with Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai, the farmer leader confirmed.
This will be the third round of meeting between the two sides.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 37 farm unions, has also supported the ongoing protests. The protesters are demanding a minimum support price or MSP for their crops.
A total of 34 people signed the joint statement, which appeals to people from all walks of life “to extend all support to this momentous action” of the farmers and the workers.
Nationwide Farmers Protest on February 16- “BHARAT BAND”
A sectoral industrial strike and Grameen Bharat Bandh have been called by the workers and farmers on 16 February, Friday.
The farmers’ body Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) has urged all like-minded farmer organisations to unite and take part in the February 16 Bharat Bandh. The day-long protest will begin from 6 AM to 4 PM.
According to a report by The Indian Express, farmers will join massive chakka jams on main roads nationwide from 12 pm to 4 pm on Friday. Most of the state and national highways will be closed for four hours in Punjab on Friday.
#WATCH | Commuters face delays and traffic jams entering into Delhi due to protestors; visuals from GT Karnal Road pic.twitter.com/hunVr7ARyv
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2024
There are 10 major protest sites: Rajpura, Sunam (near Shambu and Khanauri borders, respectively), Jethuke village in Bathinda, Moga, Mansa, Malaut, Valla railway crossing in Amritsar, Barnala, Sangrur, Budhlada have been selected as the rail roko protest locations, the report added. This will affect the Amritsar-Jalandhar-Delhi line, the Mansa-Bathinda-Delhi line, Ludhiana-Ferozepur line, and many other locations, Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, the general secretary of BKU Ugrahan, said.
#WATCH | Punjab: Protesters from Rajpura, Patiala are sitting on rail tracks and blocking trains at Rajpura Railway Station. pic.twitter.com/y4ffdC4LBz
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2024
Farmer leaders claimed that over 100 protesters were hurt Tuesday, hit by rubber bullets and tear gas shells. Police said 24 of their own men were injured in the stone-pelting by protesters during the first day of the protest.
At the Shambhu border, farmers with their tractor-trolleys lining the road and more arriving from different parts of Punjab are still over 200 km from their destination.
Multiple layers of concrete blocks and metal spikes are put in place at Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders with Haryana as well as at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh. Delhi-Sonipat traffic at Singhu and the movement of vehicles to Bahadurgarh.
In Delhi, commuters faced a tough time at the Singhu border due to the sealing of the area and the heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces.
What are farmers’ demands?
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a Minimum Support Price for crops based on the Swaminathan formula of C2 50 (input cost of capital 50%), legal guarantee of procurement, debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff and no smart metres.
They also demanded free 300 units of power for farming for domestic use and shops, comprehensive crop insurance, and a hike in pensions to ₹10,000 per month among others.