SKM stages dharna over pending demands

Tribune News Agency

Ludhiana, July 18

Members of Samyukt Kisan Morcha today staged a dharna over their pending demands. Present on the occasion, Chamkaur Singh, a union member, said that in 2020-2021 they had protested against the farm laws and got its assurance on MSP.

“The dharna was lifted after farmers were assured of their demands being accepted but nothing has been done so far. Furthermore, tall claims were made during the General Election but to no avail,” said Chamkaur Singh.

“On July 10, a meeting of our national council was held in Delhi and the present scenario was taken into consideration and it came forward that the BJP had lost in the states from where farmers had launched the agitation,” Karamjeet Singh, another member of the union, said.

The main demands of farmers included a legal guarantee of MSP on their produce, withdrawal of police cases registered against them during earlier protests, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, debt waivers and no hike in electricity tariff, he added.

Besides, their other demands include putting a stop to the privatisation of the power sector, discontinuing installation of prepaid electricity meters and provision of a subsidy on agriculture inputs.