Bathinda farmers gherao DC’s residence, mini-secretariat
To press for the quick redress of the issues pertaining to paddy purchase, DAP and stubble burning, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) activists, who have been staging a sit-in protest for the past 20 days, today surrounded the residence of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Bathinda and blocked all gates of the mini-secretariat. A meeting was also held today between the farmers’ leaders and the Deputy Commissioner, but it remained inconclusive.
Addressing a gathering, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) state senior vice-president Jhanda Singh Jethuke, district president Shingara Singh Mann, general secretary Harjinder Singh Baggi, and women’s wing leader Harinder Bindu said the government was presenting false figures related to paddy purchase and lifting. During the meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, it was stated that 80 per cent of paddy had been bought in the mandis. However, according to reports received by farmer leaders, only 20 per cent of the paddy has been bought and 5 per cent has been lifted in mandis. Farmers alleged as a result, paddy was being openly looted by offering them poor prices.
Due to delay in agreements, paddy being bought in the mandis was not fetching the actual price, creating a major problem for lifting. Similarly, the shortage of DAP has led to farmers being supplied with nano-DAP or other substandard fertilisers. The government has not made adequate arrangements for managing stubble, forcing farmers to burn it. As a result, farmers were inviting fine along with red entries in their land records.
Farmer leaders emphasised that the government should have ensured the smooth sale of paddy in the mandis instead of taking coercive action against them. They alleged the real cause of all the problems lied in the pro-corporate policies being implemented, which were aimed at acquiring land from farmers.
Bathinda DC Shaukat Ahmed Parray said: “Talks with farmers are going on over their issues. In today’s meeting, we clearly told them purchase and lifting had been going on smoothly at a pace similar to last year’s. We even showed them the figures as well.”
