{‘Tardy’ paddy procurement } 17 trains affected as farmers block roads, squat on tracks

Several trains were either cancelled, diverted or rescheduled as Punjab farmers on Sunday blocked roads and squatted on rail tracks across the state as part of their protest against the alleged ‘tardy’ paddy procurement operations during the ongoing kharif marketing season.
While Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) had given a call for a statewide road blockade from 12 to 3 pm, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) had also given a call for ‘rail roko’ for three hours.
As per Ferozepur railway division, as many as 17 trains were adversely affected leading to the cancellation of two trains while four were partially cancelled and an equal number diverted. Five trains were running behind schedule. A senior official in the Ferozepur division, who did not wish to be named said, the railways will continue to monitor the situation and efforts are being made to restore normalcy and minimize further disruptions.
This season paddy has been sown over 32 lakh hectares and experts have predicted a bumper crop of 230 lakh tonnes with the state food and civil supplies fixing a target of 185 lakh tonnes for procurement. The state contributes up to 45% of paddy of the total country’s need for the PDS. In Punjab, procurement officially began on October 1 but various factors including paucity of space with Food Corporation of India (FCI), arthiyas strike over hike in commission and rice millers’ reluctance to store paddy and apprehensions over the out-turn ratio (post milling yield) of the PR-126 paddy variety, have affected the procurement.
The farmers’ strike is supported by both arthiyas and millers. As per reports, the FCI, which is the nodal agency for the management of food grains in the country, is facing a paucity of space. As many as 175 lakh tonnes (wheat and rice) have piled up in the state due to the slow movement of train rakes to consumer states.
BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they held their ‘rail roko’ protest at 17 places including Batala, Shahkot (Jalandhar), Bathinda, Ajitwal (Moga), Wallah Phatak (Amritsar), Patti (Tarn Taran), Malout (Muktsar), Jalalabad (Fazilka), Kotakpura (Faridkot), Mansa, Dhablan (Patiala), Sunam (Sangrur), Malerkotla, Qila Raipur (Ludhiana) Lalru (Mohali), Talwandi Bhai (Ferozepur) and Mandiala (Hoshiarpur).
Farmers also blocked roads in several places including national highways with commuters facing inconvenience. The road traffic was diverted through alternative routes.
In Bathinda, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that despite assurances by the state government regarding the smooth procurement of paddy, farmers are facing problems in grain markets.
Rail and traffic disruptions were reported from Multania road locality in Bathinda city, Jalalabad in Fazilka, Mansa, Kotkapura in Faridkot and other places in southwest Punjab.
In Jalandhar too, farm union activists blocked rail and national highways at multiple locations in the Doaba region. The rail traffic on the Ambala-Amritsar main line and Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur line was affected.
The farmers also blocked the Delhi-Jalandhar national highway in Phillaur, Phagwara, Dhannowali and near toll plazas in Mehatpur and Shahkot.
An SKM leader Santokh Singh Sandhu said the protest was carried out for the genuine demands of the farmers.
“The state government has forced farmers to protest as it had completely failed in streamlining the paddy procurement centres. At many mandis, the purchase has not been started,” he said.
Another leader Kashmir Singh said that the issue of commission agents (arthiyas) and millers over procurement of PR 126 variety of paddy is causing the delays. “It was the responsibility of the state government to resolve these issues well before the start of the procurement session,” he said.
In Amritsar, SKM-Punjab and BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) activists staged protests at Putlighar Chowk. BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) also laid siege to the railway track at Vallah on the key Amritsar-Delhi rail route.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said he would meet the Union consumer affairs minister on October 14 to flag the demands of protesting rice millers and ‘arhtiyas’.