The meeting between farmer leaders and the Punjab Government representatives remained “inconclusive” on Sunday, as no agreement could be reached on the cost of production for sugarcane. At the same time, the farmers declared to continue with their highway and rail blockade “till their demand of hike in cane prices is met”.
To resolve the matter, another round of meeting with an expert committee will be held on Monday. Subsequently, a meeting with the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh may also be held a day later (Tuesday).
Scores of farmers had on Friday launched an agitation for an indefinite period to press the Punjab Government to accept their demands related to pending dues of sugarcane and hike in cane prices.
After the meeting on Sunday, senior farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal maintained that the meeting remained “inconclusive”. “Not much was achieved from today’s meeting,” he said.
However, he said that the Government has assured that outstanding arrears of private mills will be cleared within the next 15 days and those of the cooperative be settled by September first week.
Another senior farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal made it clear that the blockade will continue till their demand of hike in cane prices is met.
Sharing more details of the meeting, Dallewal said: “On cost of production issue, the Government admitted that the officials had not given them correct feedback; and now, in the meeting in Jalandhar, these things will be discussed threadbare.”
The state Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is also chairman of Punjab Government-constituted ‘Sugarcane Welfare Group’, said that the agriculture experts, officers of Cooperation and Agriculture Departments will hold a meeting in Jalandhar with farmers’ representatives and all calculations regarding cost of production will be worked out.
On cane growers’ demand of Rs 400 per quintal, Randhawa said that the Government’s job is to watch the interests of farmers as well as the industry.
Regarding a possible meeting between the farmers’ representatives and the Chief Minister over the matter, Randhawa said that any decision regarding the meeting with the Chief Minister would be decided “after Monday’s meeting”.
Notably, the protesting farmers are demanding that the Punjab Government raise the State Assured Price (SAP) of sugarcane and clear payment of arrears to the tune of Rs 200-250 crore.
They have already rejected the hike of Rs 15 per quintal announced by the Punjab Government a few days back. The State Government had revised sugarcane rates to Rs 325 for the early variety, Rs 315 for mid variety, and Rs 310 per quintal for the late maturing variety.
The blockade by farmers has been affecting movement of trains and vehicular traffic. Emergency vehicles are, however, being allowed to ply.
Railway officials of Ferozepur division had earlier said that a total of 89 trains were cancelled because of the farmers’ protest. Rail passengers travelling for the festival of Raksha Bandhan festival on Sunday bore the maximum brunt of the blockade.
Protesters have blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the Delhi-Amritsar national highway near Dhanowali village of Jalandhar district. The blockade affected vehicular movement to and from Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Pathankot, though the administration diverted the traffic through some alternative routes.
At some points, service roads were opened for Raksha Bandhan, while the dharna at Jalandhar continued as usual. The festival was also celebrated at the dharna site.
After tying rakhis to the agitators, women also announced to join the protest. For the last two days, women were extending their support by supplying cooked food.