Awaiting relief material, farm labourers protest on rooftops

Tribune Reporters

Muktsar/Moga, April 5

Poor people, comprising mainly farm labourers, on Sunday banged “thalis” on their rooftops to lodge a protest against the state government “failing” to provide them ration. Such protests were lodged at Khunde Halal, Bhagsar, Bhuttiwala, Khnuna Khurd, Saonke and Dabra villages, said Tarsem Singh Khunde Halal, a farm union leader.

Activists of farm and labour unions staged a protest in many villages of Moga district. They demanded ration, medicines, preventive material such as masks and sanitisers. They said they were hit the most due to lockdown.

Major Singh, an activist of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, who led the protest at Kaleke village, said landless farm labourers had no access to relief material. “Many of us also faced police brutality. They beat us with sticks if we dare to step out for work in the fields,” he said.

He alleged that the ration supply announced by the state government for the poor remained only on paper. The leaders were distributing ration among their workers and supporters, ignoring the poor, he alleged.

Activists of labour unions raised slogans against the Chief Minister at Himmatpura, Bhagike, Machike, Rama, Bilaspur, Saidoke, Badhni Kalan, Kussa, Khai, Kaleke, Kishanpura, Kokri, Talwandi Bhangeria and many other villages, while staging protests on the rooftop of their houses.

BKU activist Amarjit Singh Saidoke demanded release of pending wages of MNREGA workers and ration at fair price shops.

He alleged many industries and companies were terminating the services of workers in Ludhiana, Mangi Gobindgarh, Mohali, Amritsar and other cities. Most of them were hired through contractors and the payments of labour contractors were withheld by the industries.

The unions also demanded monetary compensation for the labour class for the lockdown period and sought job security for poor workers.