Six trains have been canceled at Batala railway station in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district due to ‘rail stop demonstration’ by Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti (KMSC). These demonstrations are happening from tomorrow Sunday. Farmers on Sunday launched an indefinite protest over various demands, including land acquired for road projects and fair compensation for crop damage due to inclement weather.
According to railway officials, six trains including Pathankot to Verka, Amritsar to Pathankot, Amritsar to Qadian passenger train were canceled on the Amritsar-Pathankot section on Monday due to farmers’ protest. The protesters on Monday parked their tractors on the railway track at the station and raised slogans against the Center and the Punjab government. KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher asked the central and state government to accept their demands.
“This is the second day of our protest,” he said. He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab should compensate farmers for crop loss due to bad weather. Pandher said that the Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur and the Senior Superintendent of Police of Batala spoke to him on Monday. “They have given us some proposals, which are yet to be considered,” Pandher said. “We want the Chief Minister to intervene and he should sort out our issues,” Pandher said.
Apart from demanding a fair amount for the land acquired for road projects, the farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre for crop damage caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the state. They are also demanding relaxation of norms for procurement of wheat for the central pool.
Unseasonal rains, hailstorm and strong winds have damaged wheat and other crops in many areas of Punjab.
The state government has already announced a 25 per cent hike in compensation for crop damage due to inclement weather. The protesters also said that they want the state government to waive interest on farm loans and defer loan installments by six months. Pandher said the state government should expedite the process of special girdawaris (revenue surveys) to assess crop losses and ensure that farmers are compensated at the earliest.
