Farmers’ organizations said they would allow freight trains to run in Punjab for an additional 15 days (File)
Chandigarh:
Punjab farmer bodies protesting against central farm laws said on Wednesday that there was currently no blockade of rail tracks and platforms would be released as they criticized the center over the crisis of electricity in the state.
Coal supplies to thermal power plants in Punjab have been severely affected after the railways suspended freight train operation due to the blockade of some tracks by farmers during the three controversial new laws.
Farmer groups say they are not protesting on the tracks now, but nearby and on the docks, while the railroads say unrest is still going on on some tracks.
The organizations said they will allow freight trains to run in the state for an additional 15 days, as they prepare for the proposed national roadblock on Thursday.
“The attitude of the central government towards the state is not only anti-farmer, but also anti-Punjab,” Kulwant Singh Sandhu, secretary general of Jamhoori Kisna Sabha, told the media.
“The central ministers are not ready to meet and the president has not given time to meet the representatives of the state government,” he said. “They indulge in the twisting of the arms and try to suppress the voices of farmers and workers.”
Mr Sandhu said the public industry was on the verge of closure and 12 lakh workers had lost their jobs.
“Coal is not coming, there is a shortage of urea and DAP (diammonium phosphate), and power cuts in the state are being imposed,” Sandhu said, pointing to the impact. the suspension of freight trains by railways.
Earlier, the protesting farmers announced that they would allow freight trains to run until November 5.
However, the railroads later decided to extend the suspension, saying protesting farmers were still blocking the tracks. He also demanded that the agitators leave the platforms.
Sharing details of decisions made by representatives of 30 agricultural enterprises, Kulwant Singh Sandhu said freight trains would be allowed for an additional 15 days in the state, keeping in mind the demands of trade and the industry, and for the supply of fertilizers for crops. .
Mr. Sandhu said all the main leads were clear. “No one is sitting on the tracks,” he said, asking if a farmer created a problem in his operation when the railroads ran freight trains for two days.
The farmers chief said the train stations would also be freed. “We’re going to sit in the park outside the stations,” he said.
Regarding some farmer organizations not clearing the tracks, Sandhu said they told state government officials that these organizations were not part.
Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) squat on two railroad tracks that lead to the coal supply of two private thermal power stations in Rajpura and Mansa. Protesters under the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh committee banner are also seated on a railroad track in Amritsar.
However, he said their protests outside the residence of BJP leaders, some companies’ malls, toll plazas will continue.
Sandhu added that peasant organizations in Punjab will participate in the nationwide “chakka jam” (roadblock) project on November 5.
More than 300 peasant organizations announced last month the blocking of several highways and roads across the country on Thursday in protest against central farm laws.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
