Farmers start 3-day protest across state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

A large number of farmers organisations today started a three-day protest in the state.

The protesters are agitating in front of DC offices for various demands, including waiver of debt.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan) said their main demand was that the government must ensure that all private or government loans outstanding against the farmers and labourers should be waived off.

He also demanded that the compensation amount to farmer suicide victims should be Rs 5 lakh and one of their family members should be given a government job.

Besides, the government should give new tube well connections and should bear the cost of installation. They also said that the government should ban the auction of land, houses and property of a farmer who fails to repay his debt.

The state should confer ownership rights to cultivators, solve the problem of stray cattle and making farming a profitable venture.

The farmers held protests at Sangrur, Mansa, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Faridkot, Muktsar, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Kapurthala, Nawan Shehar, Ludhiana etc.

Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of BKU (Ugrahan), while speaking at Sangrur said despite protests in the recent past, no steps had been initiated by the Badal government to waive the debt of farmers and fulfill other demands. They said they would continue their agitation till the acceptance of all their demands.