A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit to Punjab mandis acted as a fertiliser for the wilting State party unit, the local leaders on Wednesday decided to raise the farmers’ issue ardently and launch an aggressive campaign against the SAD-BJP Government. As the State Congress legislators has announced to gherao the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence on Thursday, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has decided to launch ‘rail roko’ campaign on May 2.
Rahul had visited Sirhind, Gobindgarh, and Khanna mandis, on Tuesday to extend support to the farmers. PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday gave a call for ‘Rail Roko’ on May 2 for one hour in protest against the alleged “open loot of farmers in the mandis in the State”. Giving the protest call, Bajwa held the Parkash Singh Badal-led Government responsible for plight of farmers.
“The farmers continued to be harassed in the mandis and the procurement was tardy…Rail Roko (train blockade) is the first phase of the Jan Andolan being launched by the party against ‘anti-people’ policies of the Badal Government. “I apologise to the rail commuters in advance for the inconvenience they might face due to this agitation but the issues are much bigger,” he said, adding that the blockade will be of one hour from 12 noon to 1 pm.
The party demanded immediate lifting of the wheat and release of payment to farmers who Bajwa alleged were facing harassment because of delayed payment. Bajwa demanded bonus on wheat at the rate of Rs200 per quintal and compensation for the crops damaged due to persistent inclement weather. He also demanded that crop insurance be implemented and Government should pay the premium for the insurance.
On the other hand, Congress legislative Party (ClP) leader Sunil Jakhar also announced that the party MlAs would organise an agitation against the Punjab Government and gherao the CM’s residence on April 30, Thursday. “We will protest against State Government’s apathy towards the farmer’s issues and ongoing tardy wheat procurement process in the State,” said Jakhar.
He also criticised the SAD-led Punjab Government for its failure to disburse the pending payments to the farmers for sugarcane and damaged paddy crop in the previous season. Further criticising both the State and the Union Governments, Jakhar said that both the alliance partners are not serious over the issues or problems faced by the farmers.
Also the leader of opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Jakhar demanded immediate increase in MSP of the wheat being procured at present. Both the leaders showered praises on the young Gandhi scion for taking strong note of the continued harassment of the farmers in Punjab and visiting grain markets to listen to the farmers’ woes. They also attributed the State Government's decision to release money for clearing farmers’ arrears to Rahul’s State visit.
“Farmers continued to be harassed in the mandis and procurement is tardy. It is only after feeling the heat following sudden visit by Gandhi that the state government late in the night released money to clear arrears of the farmers. However, the government is still to compensate them for the loss suffered by them due to natural calamity,” said Bajwa. He said that the farmers were being kept in the dark about the actual price on which the crop was being procured and they were being told that it would be decided later. This amounted to cheating the farmers.
“The farmers are being looted in the mandis by all those involved in the purchase of his produce in the name of poor quality,” said Bajwa while alleging “open exploitation” by certain influential Akali leaders who were also in the food trade as commission agents, who had been forcing the farmers in league with the procurement agency officials to sell their produce at lower rates and pass on the same to the Government at higher rate.
