The dharna organised by BKU Ugrahan outside Dreamland colony in Sangrur will finally be lifted on Saturday afternoon following an assurance from the state government that their demands will be met.
This announcement was made by Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and confirmed by BKU Ugrahan president Joginder Singh Ugrahan after a meeting between leaders of the union and the minister at Circuit House in Patiala.
For the last 20 days the farmers have been protesting outside Dreamland colony – where Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has a house taken on rent – demanding compensation for crop damage due to rain and pest attack, Rs 200 per quintal for managing paddy stubble, adequate relief against land acquisition and minimum support price for crops like maize and moong, among others.
The dharna will be lifted by BKU Ugrahan after taking out a ‘victory rally’ outside the colony on Saturday afternoon, said BKU Ugrahan general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan.
Dhaliwal said, “We had a detailed meeting with five members of BKU Ugrahan committee in Patiala in which we discussed each and every demand of the farmers. The meeting continued for over an hour and we will give in writing about our commitment regarding all the demands by Saturday morning. The union members have assured that they will lift the dharna on Saturday afternoon.”
Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of the farmer union, Shingara Singh Mann, senior vice-president of the union, and three more office-bearers of BKU Ugrahan attended the meeting.
Ugrahan said, “Yes, we will lift the dharna on Saturday. We were otherwise planning to hold a massive protest gathering on October 29 as the government had been acting as a mute spectator all this while. We will take out a victory rally before lifting the dharna. We started our day-night dharna outside the colony on October 9, and it’s been more than 20 days we have been sitting on the road pressing for our demands. We even celebrated Diwali on road. It was our fourth consecutive Diwali on roads. Though Punjab CM Mann had verbally agreed to most of our demands on October 7, but nothing in writing was given to us by the government in this connection. On Friday (October 28), after a long meeting, the government finally agreed to give us in writing as to how and when it will implement our demands. Hence we decided to lift the dharna.”
Shingara Singh Mann said, “They noted everything during the meeting and showed us what all they had written regarding our demands. On Saturday morning, they will give us the final printout which will be read out before the protesting farmers. We will lift the dharna after taking out a victory rally.”
The farmers had been carrying ration, mattresses, cooking gas cylinders, fans and other essentials to the protest site to press the CM to accept their demands.
Two farmers had died at the protest site till date – one Gurcharan Singh (65) who died of snake-bite on October 13, while Karnail Singh Akai (75) of Akai village in Sangrur died of heart attack on October 21. The bodies of both farmers have been kept in the mortuary of Rajindra Medical College, Patiala. The bodies will be cremated on Sunday as the government has agreed to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh each, a government job to each family and waiver of farm loan of these families, said Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU Ugrahan.