Farmers put off three- day protest at Badal village

BATHINDA: In a relief to the Punjab government, farmer and labourer unions have decided to postpone their three-day protest at Badal village, Muktsar, which was to be started on January 6.

The farmer organisations will now announce fresh dates, following their meeting on January 10.

Earlier, the call for the protest at the native village of Punjab chief minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal was made during the first ‘lalkaar’ (challenge) rally in Barnala on December 16.

Sources said lack of preparedness and failure of farmer organisations in mobilising their respective workers were one of the major reasons behind postponement of the protest.

The decision of postponement was taken during a meeting of farmer organisations on December 31.

Pertinently, meetings between representatives of farmer organisations and CM Badal were held on October 12 and December 12, but remained inconclusive as the government was reluctant to meet the demands of farmers.

Sukhdev Singh Kokri, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugarahan), said besides lack of preparedness, unfavourable weather conditions for the wheat crop was another major reason behind postponement of the protest for the time being.

“The health of the crop is main concern of farmers and we cannot put it on stake for the sake of the protest. Moreover, Lohri and Maghi festivals are around the corner and we could not have prolonged the protest by many days to put pressure on the government,” Kokri said.

“Any decision on the protest will be taken during the meeting on January 10. Seeing the attitude of the government, we may decide to launch an indefinite protest at the CM’s village from mid-January,” he added.