Punjab farmers begin five-day protest, seek implementation of agriculture policy

Chandigarh: Farmers under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union began a five-day protest on Sunday to press for their demands, including the implementation of an agriculture policy by the Punjab government.

Farmers from various parts of Punjab arrived in buses, tractor-trolleys and their personal vehicles and converged on the Dussehra ground in Chandigarh's Sector 34 to take part in the sit-in.

The administration allotted the ground for the protest.

The farmers are protesting against alleged delays in the implementation of an agriculture policy, claiming that the Punjab government had not taken any meaningful step on it.

The AAP government assumed power two-and-a-half-years ago but the promised agriculture policy is yet to be implemented, they alleged.

The farmers' other demands include the promotion of chemical-free crops, compensation to the families of farmers who committed suicide, and curbing the drugs problem in the state, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union general secretary Lachhman Singh Sewewala said.

Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said the farmers would march towards the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Monday and hand over a memorandum of their demands to the chief minister and opposition leaders.

A three-day session of the assembly will begin on Monday.