Farmers blocking the National Highway at Pipli in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district, demanding MSP for sunflower seeds, slept at the protest site on Monday night. This prompted the police to divert traffic as the blockade of the highway connecting Delhi to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jammu continued. Meanwhile, after two rounds of talks with the district administration yielded no result, they will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the future course of action.
There was no result of the meeting with the district administration.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that he held two meetings with the district administration on Monday night but the talks did not yield any result. He said that a local committee of farmers formed on Monday and leaders of the United Kisan Morcha (SKM) would hold a meeting on Tuesday to decide their future course of action.
Tikait said that the issue of minimum support price (MSP) for sunflower crops is affecting not only the farmers of Haryana but the entire farming community, as we are demanding an MSP law for all crops, as the Center The government had promised when we took back ‘Kisan’. Andolan’ (farmers’ movement against the now repealed farm laws). Apart from the MSP for sunflower seeds, the protesting farmers are demanding the release of nine farmer union leaders who were recently killed during a protest here in Shahabad. was arrested.
Fresh cases registered against protesters: Kurukshetra SP
Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police SS Bhoria told news agency PTI that the district administration is trying to persuade the farmers to lift the blockade and is hopeful that a solution will be found. He also said that a fresh case has been registered against the protesters by the police under relevant provisions of the law for blocking the National Highway. He said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been violated in the radius of 2 kilometers of Grain Market, Pipli, where the farmers held the mahapanchayat.
“MSP Dilao, Kisan Bachao Mahapanchayat” called by BKU (Charuni) was organized at a grain market in Pipli near National Highway-44. After this they blocked the highway. The district administration and the police are trying to persuade the protesting farmers to lift the blockade, causing inconvenience to the passers-by.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday released Rs 29.13 crore as interim compensation to 8,528 farmers for sunflower growing on 36,414 acres. The farmers are demanding that the state government buy sunflower at the minimum support price of Rs 6,400 per quintal.
Under the Bhavantar Bhapsi Yojana – Price Difference Payment Scheme – the state government is giving Rs 1,000 per quintal as interim support for sunflower crop sold below the MSP.
(With inputs from PTI)