Punjab agri minister Dhaliwal urges farm body KMSC to withdraw protest call

Punjab Agri Minister has urged representatives of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to withdraw their protest call, assuring them that the state government is striving to resolve the issues of farmers

Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Wednesday urged representatives of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to withdraw their protest call, assuring them that the state government is striving to resolve the issues of farmers.

The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) had given a call to lay seize to all toll plazas in the state for a month starting December 15 and also 'gherao' the residences of ministers and AAP MLAs on December 12 in support of their various demands, including farm debt waiver and legal guarantee for minimum support price.

After their meeting with the minister, Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of KMSC, said the protest programme will remain as it is.

However, he said a meeting of KMSC will be held on December 13 to consider all the issues.

Agreeing with the demand of farmers, Dhaliwal said the Punjab government will write a letter to the union government for early resolution of farmers' issues.

The minister said the state government has so far released Rs 31.70 crore to the families of 634 farmers who died during the farmers' stir against the now-repealed three farm laws, besides giving government jobs to 326 family members of the deceased farmers.

Of which, verification of 98 candidates has been completed while the verification of 210 candidates is under process, he said.

On the issue of land acquired for the highway being constructed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, Dhaliwal asked the officials concerned to resolve farmers' cases and appeals before the divisional commissions related to the land being acquired for the highway projects within a stipulated time frame.

Dhaliwal also shared a progress report with the farmers on their demands regarding sugarcane prices, withdrawal of cases against farmers, dues of co-operative and private mills and compensation for crop damage.

He informed the farmers that the Punjab agricultural policy will be prepared soon and most of the issues will be resolved with its implementation.

Dhaliwal urged the members of KMSC to withdraw their protest programmes, saying that the Bhagwant Mann government stands shoulder to shoulder with the farmers and is constantly striving to resolve their problems.

The KMSC delegation comprised state unit chief Satnam Singh Pannu and general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher.

The meeting was also attended by Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Arpit Shukla; Principal Secretary (Agriculture) D K Tiwari; Principal Secretary (Animal Husbandry) Vikas Pratap; Secretary Agriculture Arshdeep Singh Thind and other senior officials of various departments.