Basmati price issue: Farmers start 3-day dharna outside Dhaliwal’s house

On the call of the Kirti Kisan Union, a three-day dharna was started in front of the house of Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal at Jagdev Kalan village here on Monday. When the farmers gathered at the protest site, they observed that the administration and the minister were ignoring them. They got angry and marched towards the Cabinet Minister’s house and started a protest in front of the minister’s gate. However, union held a protest for three hours in front of the gate and then returned to the designated protest site.

Addressing a gathering of hundreds of farmers, state vice-president of the union Jatinder Singh Chhina, district president Satnam Singh Jhandir, and state committee member Hardeep Kaur Kotla said in the current paddy season, private traders are looting the farmers by not paying an appropriate price for basmati. The 1121, 1718, 1885 varieties are being sold for Rs 2,800-3,000. He said the ministers of the AAP government have been saying on public stages that more and more basmati should be cultivated so that the serious crisis of underground water can be avoided. They also assured the farmers that they would give them a good price.

Jatinder Singh Chinna said basmati consumes less water and brings dollars. If its trade of 5.88 billion dollars is done through the Wagah border, then Punjab can earn at least Rs 40,000 crore and youth of the state will benefit to a large extent as employment opportunities would be there. Therefore, the minimum support price of 1121 type of basmati should be fixed at Rs 6,000 and the MSP of 1509 types fixed at Rs 5,000.

He further said if Cabinet Minister Dhaliwal adopts an apathetic attitude towards the farmers, then the protest may continue for a long time.

Farmer leaders Major Singh Karyal, Avtar Singh Jassar, Sukhwinder Singh Kiampur, Kulwinder Singh Rakh Othian, Balwinder Singh Panjgrain, Jasbir Singh Othian, Davinder Singh Gaggomahal, Nambardar Dilbag Singh Makowal, Satnam Singh Talle, Sarpanch Nachhatar Singh Khusu Pur, Baldev Singh Sahansra, Manjit Singh Tera, Sukhdev Singh Bath, Savinder Singh Nanoke were present.

Tarn Taran: On the call given by the state leadership of the Kirti Kisan Union, farmers launched a three-day dharna here on Monday. On the first day of the protest, farmers from different villages held a sit-in in front of the residence of Tarn Taran MLA Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal.

The farmers were pushing for fulfilling their demands, including the commencement of procurement of paddy without delay.

In his address, Nachhattar Singh, district president of the KKU, alleged that the state government had left farmers at the mercy of the corporate sector. The rate of Basmati 1121 variety, which was being procured at a rate of more than Rs 3,000 per quintal, had been reduced to less than Rs 2,000 per quintal. The KKU leader said the state government had announced that if basmati was procured at a rate less than Rs 3,000 per quintal, it would give compensation. However, the state government had not even expressed its sympathy for the farmers’ loss.

The leader said the paddy had arrived in the mandis of the district, but due to the non-procurement, there was no one to take care of the farmers’ stock. A significant amount of crop was also getting ruined in the fields as the farmers were not ready to harvest the fully ripen crop.

Satpal Singh Nathoke, Mehar Singh Chutala, Nazar Singh Sarhali khurd, Kulwinder Singh were among others who addressed the farmers on the occasion and highlighted their problems. The leaders said that the farmers would stage a dharna here in the coming two days too.