Punjab farm groups reject ‘meagre’ hike insugarcane price, block NH at Mukerian
In Mukerian, farmers blocked Jalandhar-Pathankot-Jammu
National Highway in the early afternoon to protest against the
‘meagre’ hike.
ALANDHAR: Farm groups have rejected the hike of Rs 11
in sugarcane price announced by Punjab chief minister
Bhagwant Mann on Friday through his social media
accounts.
In Mukerian, farmers blocked Jalandhar-Pathankot-Jammu
National Highway in the early afternoon to protest against
the ‘meagre’ hike.
Farmers opened one side of the NH in the night while they
continued to sit on the other side of the highway.
ADGP Jakarran Singh help a meeting with around a dozen
leaders of farm groups to take their feedback and to
negotiate with them.
“We told him that CM in his meeting with farm leaders on
November 24 had said that Haryana had increased the
cane price by Rs 14 and Punjab would give the farmers a
better increase. We have urged him to convey to the CM
that in formal announcement price should be increased
further,” said BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai who
was present in the meeting.
The farm leaders also announced that they would wait for
the Punjab government’s formal announcement on
Saturday and would then hold a meeting of the Sanyukt
Kisan Morcha to decide further course of action.
However, when Punjab government machinery focused its
negotiations at Jalandhar, a set of farm groups blocked
Jalandhar – Pathankot NH around 1 PM.
This led to a huge problem for the vehicular traffic which
had to be diverted through narrow, convoluted alternate
routes.
Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal and SSP
Surinder Lamba tried to get the farmers to open the
highway but they refused. When SSP issued a warning,
farmers said that they would not allow the CM to hold his
function at Gurdaspur on Saturday. The blockade was
continuing till late evening.
