Farmers’ protest enters Day 5, demand cotton compensation

Bathinda, September 21

A large number of farmers protesting under eight farmer unions of Punjab today took out a protest march from their protest venue to the Agriculture Department in Bathinda and returned after protesting there for half an hour. The protesters shouted slogans against the state government.

The protest of the farmers entered the fifth consecutive day here under different eight farmer unions of Punjab. Yesterday, the farmers had got a shot in their arm after the kin of a farm labour, Mandar Singh, got compensation of Rs 5 lakh. Mandar had died of heart attack on the first day of the protest.

Earlier, the farmers had kept Mandar’s body at the Civil Hospital and had refused to get conduct an autopsy until the government gave compensation and a job to the kin of the victim farm labourer. Mandar’s body was cremated was on Sunday.

Farmers are demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for every cotton farmer who has faced damage of cotton crop this time due to whitefly. Farmers are continuing with their protest in Bathinda.

As many as eight farmer unions, including BKU Dkaunda, BKU Ugraha Union, Punjab Kisan Union, BKU Krantikari, BKU Kirti Kisan Union, Jamhuri Kisan Sabha and two different Sangarsh Committees who earlier had announced to stage protest here against the state government to raise their demand for compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre to each cotton farmer who have witnessed damaged due to whitefly attack in the cotton belt of Punjab.

The farmers are also demanding that the government should provide compensation of Rs 20,000 to all those labourer families who had got unemployed due to cotton crop damage this time.

President of the Bhartya Kisan Union Ekta-Ugrahan Bathinda, Shingara Singh Mann, said, “We took out a protest march to the Agriculture Department but all officials left their offices locked after they came to news about our protest march. We raised anti-government slogans and came back to our protest venue in front of the district complex in Bathinda. About Rs 3,800 crore is needed to compensate farmers of around 9.5 lakh acres that faced loss due to whitefly attack. The government, this time, has cheated the farmers badly by providing the duplicate pesticides. We are demanding an enquiry against the officials and minister. Our six vans are moving in several villages to create awareness among the farmers about their rights and are motivating them to participate in the protest which is round-the-clock and for indefinite period.” — TNS