CHANDIGARH: A day after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accused farmer unions of holding his government to ransom, the unions hit back saying the state government was not serious about their demands. The unions have been protesting at half-a-dozen locations along Amritsar-Pathankot, Jalandhar-Pathankot, and Chandigarh-Patiala highways.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president, of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur), said the government has betrayed the farmers by listing over 4,000 of them for stubble burning despite promising them not to do so. “These farmers cannot take loans against their lands,” said Dallewal, who is on a protest fast.
“The government has also gone back on its promise to return the common village land to small farmers,” said Dallewal. He added that moong dal growers were promised MSP, but farmers had to sell it in the open market. “When we were protesting at Delhi border, then it was fine for AAP. But now that the protests are taking place in Punjab, the government has called it a political gimmick,’’ he said. Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary, of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), said sacrifices made by them have been overlooked.