Farmers in Punjab, who have been on strike for the last four days, have decided to call off their agitation on June 6, PTI reported on Monday. The decision was taken at a meeting of the leaders of several farmers’ organisations in Ludhiana.
The state’s farmers had joined a 10-day strike called by farmers in several states of India. It began on June 1 and has so far been effective in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Chhattisgarh.
The strike has led to a rise in the prices of vegetables in several cities. Prices have increased by Rs 10 to Rs 20 per kg. The farmers have been demanding debt waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report and a minimum income guarantee scheme.
Monday’s meeting, presided over by Bhartiya Kisan Union President Balbir Singh Rajewal, was attended by by the BKU (Lakhowal), BKU (Sidhpur), Indian Farmers Association, BKU (Kadian) and the Punjab Dairy Farmers’ Association.
After the meeting, Rajewal said farmers in Punjab would start supplying vegetables and milk to the cities on Wednesday. “But the stir would continue in other states till June 10,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, some commercial dairy farmers had said they would withdraw from the protests because of their rising losses. Daljit Singh, president of the Punjab Dairy Farmers’ Association, said they had already incurred losses of Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 crore over the last three days. By Scroll
