Punjab govt invites SKM for meeting on March 21

Chandigarh: Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders Thursday said they have received a Punjab government invite for a meeting Friday with Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.

The invitation for the meeting comes ahead of the SKM's call for taking out a march to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on March 26.

According to the letter of the Agriculture Department Director, which was released to the media by the SKM leaders, the meeting is proposed to be held at the Punjab Bhawan at 4 pm on Friday.

Besides SKM, the Bharti Kisan Union (Ugrahan) has also been invited for the meeting.

The SKM and the BKU (Ugrahan) are not part of the farmers' protests at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points. These protests were spearheaded by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.

A few days ago, the SKM had announced they would gather at the Sector-34 ground in Chandigarh on March 26 and from there march to the Punjab assembly.

On March 5, Punjab Police had thwarted farmers' attempt to go to Chandigarh on the SKM's call for a week-long 'dharna'. Many farmer leaders had then been "detained". The SKM had announced the march in support of farmers' various demands including purchase of six crops at minimum support price by the state government.

The SKM, which had led the 2020 agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws, is demanding implementation of the state's agricultural policy, purchase of six crops at MSP by the state government, a legal framework for debt relief after coordinating with the Centre, ownership rights of land tillers and payment of sugarcane arrears.

It is also pressing for stopping "forcible" acquisition of land for the Bharatmala projects, jobs, compensation for kin of farmers who lost lives during the farmers' stir in 2020-21, revoking policy of installing prepaid electricity meters, resolving issue of stray animals and curbing black marketing of fertilizers and spurious seeds.