Patiala administration allows farmers to protest outside city

Patiala authorities today allowed farmers to stage their protest outside the city, nine kilometres away from Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's residence, where they had initially wanted to demonstrate.
Angry farmers in the state had vowed to protest in Patiala city in support of their demands, including waiver of loans, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, and compensation to the family of the farmers who killed themselves.
Seven farmers' bodies have warned to stage a five-day 'dharna' outside the Moti Bagh residence of Chief Minister Singh from tomorrow. However, the district administration have imposed prohibitory orders in the area, fearing security issues.

"After consultation with the farmers' unions, we have allotted them a place to hold protest at Mehmadpur village in Patiala, about nine kilometres from Moti Bagh Palace," said Patiala SP Kesar Singh.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday had asked the farmers to get approval from district administration before staging their protest.
The court today extended the deployment of paramilitary forces in Patiala till September 26, as district authorities beefed up the security in the city.
Inspector General of Police, Patiala Zone, A S Rai, said nearly 9,000 security personnel have been deployed in Patiala.
Punjab police had detained about 200 farmers ahead of the protest.