Bharat Bandh: Punjab CM expresses solidarity with protesting farmers, calls emergency meeting
Farmers' protest: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday convened an emergency meeting of the newly re-constituted Council of Ministers in view of Bharat Bandh call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha in protest over the three farm laws.
The Council of Ministers passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers and their demands. Terming farm laws as anti-farmers and anti-food security, Charanjit Singh Channi said these laws were a potent threat to the livelihood of farmers and their future generations.
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Making a firm resolve, the Punjab Chief Minister said earlier resolutions passed by the Punjab Assembly in support of farmers' demand to repeal these laws should be conceded by the Government of India forthwith without any further delay.
Notably, farmer unions on Monday called for Bharat Bandh to mark one year of the enactment of the three farm laws.
Earlier too, the Punjab Government had categorically reiterated its commitment to the resolutions passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on August 28, 2020, and October 20, 2020, emphasising that all genuine demands of the farmers must be accepted.
The state government had urged the Government of India to “repeal the farm laws as agriculture is a state subject under the Constitution, and to make MSP a statutory right.”
It welcomed the Supreme Court order staying the central legislations as acknowledgement of the concerns of the farmers of Punjab. “There is need for broad-based dialogue and proper consultation with all stakeholders as these legislations impact the future of millions of farmers across the country, and all genuine demands of the farmers must be accepted," the government said.
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Expressing solidarity with the families of farmers who died during the ongoing farmers' protest, the Punjab Chief Minister asked all ministers to personally visit the houses of the victims to deliver government job letters to one of their kin.
He said 155 such appointment letters were ready and the same should be delivered to them within a week. He asked the Chief Secretary to ensure the verification of other remaining cases expeditiously so as to complete the process of giving government jobs to the eligible next of kin of the deceased farmers.
Taking cognizance of widespread resentment among the farmers for inadequate compensation for land acquisition, CM Channi directed the Chief Secretary to explore ways and means to rationalise the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the farmers to their satisfaction.
-PTC News
