Agrarian crisis in Punjab further worsened on Friday with the arhtiyas sticking to their decision to observe a strike from Saturday — the day when the wheat procurement process commences in the State. The decision came as the talks between arhtiyas and the Punjab Government, in the wake of its decision to make direct payments to the farmers, remained inconclusive.
A delegation of arhtiyas, led by Punjab Arhtiyas Association president Vijay Kalra, met the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday which ended without any decision. The Government has sought time from the arhtiyas to come up with a “way out”.
On the other hand, the arhtiyas — waiting for a proposal from the State Government to end the impasses — have, as of now, decided to stick to their decision to go on strike across Punjab from April 10, Saturday.
In case the arhtiyas, who act as service providers to the farmers in mandis during the procurement, go on strike, the farmers, who would bring their produce to the market, are expected to be a harried lot.
“As of now, our call for strike is on. If the government comes up with some proposal, we would consider that. We will have a meeting of all district presidents from across Punjab either in Ludhiana or Chandigarh, to decide on our next step,” said Vijay Kalra.
Notably, the farmers and the arhtiyas in Punjab have been opposing the Centre’s guidelines to the Food Corporation of India to transfer minimum support price (MSP) directly into the bank accounts of farmers. In fact, Punjab’s Arhtiya Association has also threatened to boycott the wheat procurement process — beginning April 10 (Saturday).
Punjab Government, led by the Chief Minister, is backing the arhtiyas with Capt Amarinder reiterating his full support for the farmers and the arhtiyas. Capt Amarinder had, in fact, flayed the BJP-led Central Government for encroaching upon the state’s rights to dominate them, and forcibly imposing farm laws and the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on the state’s farming community.
The situation became took an ugly turn a day before when the Centre turned down Punjab’s plea to retain the age-old system of making payment to the farmers through the arhtiyas, compelling the State Government to make direct payment to the farmers, while assuring to chalk out some “protection” for the arthiyas.