Farmers stay put At Punjab-Haryana borders
| Date :15-Feb-2024 |
CHANDIGARH,
HARYANA Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two States as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. There was a similar standoff at Data Singhwala-Khanauri border in Haryana’s Jind district, with Haryana Police barricades stopping farmers from travelling to Delhi on their tractor-trolley. With the farmers from several places in Punjab continuing to pour in to participate in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, a large number of tractor-trolleys could be seen parked along the national highway on the Punjab side. The protesting farmers from Punjab plan to make a fresh attempt to break past the multiple layers of barricades at the border with Haryana. The Haryana security personnel lobbed a few tear gas shells on Wednesday morning after some farmers gathered near the barricades at the Shambhu border, the protesters claimed. While the protesting farmers said they were determined to march towards the national capital, many young farmers have made their tractors ready for removing the multi-layered cemented blocks at the Shambhu border.
Third round of meeting between Union Ministers, farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday: THREE Union Ministers will hold a meeting with farmer leaders over their demands in Chandigarh on Thursday. Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said the meeting will be held with Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai at 5 pm. It will be the third round of meeting between the farmer leaders and the Centre over their demands, including a legal guarantee to the minimum support price for crops. Earlier, two meetings between the two sides have remained inconclusive. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation to put pressure on the Centre for their demands, including a law on MSP for crops and loan waivers. Rajnath Singh roped in to assist in resolving farmers issue: DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh has been roped in to assist in finding a resolution to the issues of farmers, particularly from Punjab, who have given a call to march towards the national capital, which has been turned into a fortress with police and other security personnel blocking roads with concrete blocks, barbed wires and tyre-busting spikes.
Talks with the agitating farmers have so far remained inconclusive and Singh, a farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh and former Agriculture Minister, was sought out on Wednesday to explore a resolution. Sources said Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda met Singh at the latter’s residence and discussed the ongoing farmers’ protests and ways to address the issues. Besides Munda, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal - whose Ministry procures foodgrains at government-announced minimum support price - and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai were to hold talks with the agitating farmer leaders over video conferencing on Wednesday evening but the meeting has now been pushed to Thursday, sources said.