Farmers call off Chandigarh stir after Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s assurance

The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU) ended their six-day-long protest at the Sector 34 ground here today after they got an assurance from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on meeting their demands by September 30.

The farmers, however, threatened to come back to the same venue if their demands were not met. Some farm leaders held a three-hour meeting with the CM and ministerial colleagues on Thursday and decided to end the protest today.

They were protesting against the delay in the implementation of Punjab’s new agriculture policy. As per their agreement, the government will share a 1,600-page draft policy with the farmer unions before September 30.

“The CM assured us our suggestions would be considered for incorporation before the policy is implemented,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president, BKU (Ugrahan). “They (the government) said it will be finalised by September 30 and a copy given to us. We will wait till September 30. After we get a copy of the policy, we will go through it and hold a big meeting and decide the next course of action. As of now, we have decided to end the protest in Chandigarh,” Ugrahan added.

The demands of the protesting farmers included promotion of chemical-free crops, compensation to the families of farmers who ended their lives by suicide, and curbing the drug menace in the state.

On Thursday evening, the CM assured the unions that the state government was committed to safeguarding their interests and termed the new agriculture policy a step forward in that direction. “The draft of the policy is ready, but it will be finalised only after having due deliberations with farmers and their representatives,” the CM had said after meeting the union leaders on Thursday.

On the evening of September 1, the protesting unions had marked the protest area by pitching tents at the Sector 34 Dasehra grounds. They had brought their own LPG cylinders and modified tractor-trailers fitted with air-conditioners. On September 2, members of nearly 30 other unions — including the BKU (Rajewal), Kirti Kisan Union, BKU (Dakaunda) and BKU (Lakhowal) — joined the protest. The protesting unions later marched towards Matka Chowk to hand a demand letter to Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian.