Farmers to block Gagan Chowk in Patiala’s Rajpura on Saturday

Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) (Non-Political) have announced to block Gagan Chowk in Rajpura on September 14.

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The Gagan Chowk is the main arterial vein connecting Patiala and other towns with Chandigarh. The traffic diverted due to the closing of Shambhu Border also by passes this route.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of the joint forum, said that an ultimatum was issued to the Punjab government for resolving the hygiene scare at Shambhu Border. The farmer body had complained that no electricity, toilets and sanitation facilities were offered by the state government for the past six months at the protest site.

He said that while sanitation and medical facilities have been restored, nothing has been done with regards to the electricity supply. The administrative officials told us on Thursday that they will hold a meeting but did not arrive.

“Ultimately, we are compelled to stage a protest. We want to make it clear that the Punjab government is responsible if the blockade at Gagan Chowk in Rajpura would cause any inconvenience to the commuters,” said Pandher.

The farmer union workers have been told to converge at Gagan Chowk in huge numbers. He said that farmers are also holding Kisan Mahapanchayat in Jind on September 15 and in Pipli on September 22.

On September 2, the top court had directed the five-member committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nawab Singh, to reach out to the agitating farmers to persuade them to remove their tractors and trolleys from the Shambhu border to provide relief to commuters.

The farmer leaders stated that there was no point in holding talks with the high-powered panel as it will not be able to address their Minimum Support Price (MSP) demand.

“Practically it is a toothless committee as it has no legal authority to recommend MSP. The committee does not have any power to solve our issue of MSP. Had it been a committee of Union ministers, there would have been some political legitimacy in holding talks,” Pandher stated.

He asks Mandi MP Kangna Ranaut to raise the issue of apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh. He said that apple growers are facing a bleak future: the prices of apples have dipped by 40 percent.

“Adani’s are the biggest purchasers of apples from the state. The apple associations are demanding government intervention to stabilise the prices and banning import,” said Pandher.