Protest over ban on combine harvesters sans SSMS; operators to intensify protest

Under the banner of Combine Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, the local district branch of the committee expressed resentment against the directions issued by the state government and the district administration imposing a ban on the plying of combine harvesters without a Super Straw Management System (SSMS) here on Monday.

Members of the Combine Sangharsh Committee held a meeting at Gurdwara Baba Bota Singh Baba Garja Singh on the Tarn Taran-Chabal road and later they burnt an effigy of the Punjab Government at the Amritsar bypass chowk in Tarn Taran.

Committee district president Paramjit Singh Dilawalpur, Bhag Singh Kalsia and block leader Likhinder Singh Pallasaur were among others who addressed on the occasion. They said since 2017, the government has been asking the combine harvester operators/owners to install a Super SMS. But since they were not successful, the Combine Sangharsh Committee is opposing this device throughout Punjab.

This season again, the district administration is warning the combine harvester owners through newspapers that combine harvesters without a SSMS will not be allowed to run, which is a severe blow to the owners. Hundreds of combine harvester owners who arrived at the meeting said if the district administration tried to harass them, they will intensify their protest.