CHANDIGARH: While the farmers are protesting across the country including Punjab and have dumped Milk and vegetables as a mark of protest, but the farmers of Bhullarheri village in Sangrur district of the state have come up with a novel idea of protest, they are cooking kheer of the milk and distributing it for free as they have made a menu for the ten-day protest.
The farmers of this the Bhullarheri village on Sangrur-Dhuri road have decided to give away vegetables free of cost to all the people who pass by and not only that they have yesterday put a “chabeel” (sweetened water) and gave it to the man on the road. Today they have cooked eight quintals of kheer (10 big utensils each having 80 kg) and serving them to the public. As the dairy farmers in the village produce around eight quintal of milk daily and now they are not selling the milk.
"We collected milk from everyone household in the village and then the ladies cooked kheer (rice pudding), which we are now serving to everyone including the villagers. Not only milk some villagers gave money so helped by giving dry fruits or sugar, as everyone contributed,’’ says Gupreet Singh a young dairy farmer.
He said that the villagers have chalked out a menu for the ten-day protest, it all depends on the availability of milk as they plan to go to Sangrur and also Dhuri towns near their village and then give milk to all the patients in the hospitals there. Also in the coming days we can again cook some sweet dish and serve it for free.
"If one is coming to our village and asking to give us milk or vegetables we are giving it for free of cost and also tell the person to first have food with us," says Singh.
He claims that the village stands united and no farmer will supply milk or vegetables to adjoining Sangrur, Dhuri and Bhawanigarh towns as our fight was not against city residents, but the government.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Punjab Unit President Balbir Singh Rajewal said, "I have sent a message to all the famers across the state not to dump vegetables or milk as this is not the style of our protest. If they want they can give it for free to the poor and needy."
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh described the ongoing protest by farmers as a sign of their desperation in the face of the wrongs being perpetrated on them by the central government.
He said the farming community in the country was in the grip of a serious crisis due to the indifferent attitude of the BJP-led central government.
The government had failed to provide any succour to the beleaguered farmers, who were unable to make both ends meet due to its antagonistic policies, he said, adding that despite repeated pleas by Punjab and other state governments, the Centre had failed to come to the rescue of the farming community.
Farmers were committing suicide due to their mounting debt burdens as agriculture was no longer financially viable for them in view of the inadequate MSP, he pointed out, reiterating that in toto implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report was the only impactful and long-term solution to the agrarian crisis in the country.
In Bathinda, only about 20 per cent of the vegetables reached the wholesale market resulting in scarcity. Sabzi Mandi Arhtiya Association president Manohar Singh said vegetable prices have already risen and the situation would deteriorate in comings days.
Meanwhile, a vehicle carrying around 600 litres of milk was not allowed to enter into Bathinda, thus milk was distributed among the residents of the area on the outskirts.
In Jalandhar, a large number of farmers offered to surrender the keys of their tractors to deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, as a mark of protest.
In neighbouring Haryana, police registered cases in Fatehabad and Sirsa and the farmers dumped vegetables and milk on the road as mark of protest.