Farmers block rail traffic for four hours in Amritsar, commuters suffer

Tribune reporters

Amritsar, April 18

The farmers unions associated with the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) blocked rail traffic for four hours to protest against the value cut announced by the Central Government for procurement of grains damaged by untimely rains in the state.

The farmers staged a protest on the railway tracks at the railway station here from 12 pm to 4 pm. Leaders of farmers’ unions asked the state government to review its decision and help farmers at this time of crisis when the yield has already decreased due to unseasonal rains.

Farmer leaders Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala and Jatinder Singh Chinna said the government first announced the MSP and then a value cut on it. “If the price the government is paying is already the minimum support price then applying a cut in that is not justified,” they said.

The farmer leaders stated that they would not accept the value cut as the agriculture sector was already facing a crisis. Besides, it would set a wrong precedent. There would be times in future when the weather would remain unfavourable and it would cause damage to crops, they stated.

The farmers further reasoned that a shrivelled or broken grain was still consumable and had the same nutritious value and as such the government decision was wrong.

Balkar Singh Dudala, another farmer leader, said, “The government has announced the MSP on 23 crops, but in Punjab it is mainly given on paddy and wheat and sometimes on maize.” He said they had repeatedly demanded that the MSP should be announced for all crops and the government should give legal guarantees for the same.

The protest was led by Mukhtar Singh Muhawa of the Jamhuri Kisan Sabha, Davinder Sohal of the Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, Balbir Singh Jhamka of the Punjab Kisan Union, Nirvel Singh Daleke of the Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Tarsem Singh Kalsi of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Vijay Dhariwal of the Kirti Kisan Union and others.

10 trains cancelled, commuters stranded

Train passengers were subjected to untold inconvenience due to the four-hour long blockade on the Amritsar-Delhi and Amritsar-Pathankot railway lines by the protesting farmers.

Ten passenger trains either originating from or concluding its journey at the Amritsar railway station were cancelled and many long-route trains were delayed. A large number of daily passengers commuted in passenger trains.

Neither any train arrived at nor departed the local railway station between 11.50 am and 4.23 pm.

Amrik Singh, a passenger, said he daily travelled between Amritsar and Gurdaspur for work. Travelling in a train come cheaper as compared to many other modes of transport. Owing to the blockade, he had to return by bus. He said it not only delayed my arrival, but it cost me dear to travel in another mode of transport.

A number of passengers travelling in long-route trains preferred to alight at the stations coming before their destinations to avoid waiting in searing heat.

Both departure and arrival of several trains were delayed by three to five hours. Some of popular trains among them were Shatabdi, Shan-e-Punjab, Amritsar-Jainagar, Amritsar-Chandigarh, Amritsar- Jaipur, etc.

The passenger trains cancelled were the Bhagtanwala-Khem Karan, Khem Karan-Bhagtanwala, Amritsar-Qadian, Qadian-Amritsar, (06933) Amritsar-Pathankot & Pathankot-Amritsar, Pathankot-Verka, Verka-Pathankot, Verka-Dera Baba Nanak and Dera Baba Nanak-Verka, etc.

A large number of police personnel were deployed at the Amritsar railway station. Passengers were seen standing outside the enquiry window to know about the status of their trains.

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