By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will on Tuesday meet farmer leaders over sugarcane prices and clearance of pending dues as the agitation over the issues entered its fourth day on Monday, impacting rail services and road traffic.
Farmers have blocked a national highway and rail tracks over the issues in Punjab’s Jalandhar, forcing the authorities to cancel train or divert traffic.
Railway officials in the Ferozepur division said a refund of Rs 53.65 lakh was given to 12,300 passengers for the cancellation of trains so far.
A total of 27 trains were cancelled while 22 were either diverted or short terminated on Monday, railway officials said.
The meeting between the CM and farmer leaders will be held at Chandigarh on Tuesday, said a senior official of the Punjab Agriculture Department.
Meanwhile, a group of officials and experts, including Punjab’s Commissioner (Agriculture) Balwinder Singh Sidhu and two economists of Punjab Agricultural University, on Monday held a meeting with farmer leaders at Jalandhar and heard them over the cost of sugarcane production.
Sidhu said detailed deliberations took place with farmers at the district administrative complex, where their all genuine concerns were heard patiently.
He said on most of the issues, a consensus between government and farmers have evolved while there are still differences on some issues, which were expected to be resolved in Tuesday’s meeting with the chief minister.
He described Monday’s meeting as a step in the right direction to end the ongoing agitation.
This comes a day after the meeting between farmers’ representatives and state ministers remained inconclusive.
During the meeting with farm experts and government officials, the farmer leaders pointed out that their cost of production was beyond Rs 400 per quintal.
They are demanding a hike in the State Assured Price (SAP) of sugarcane.
They have already rejected a hike of Rs 15 per quintal announced by the Punjab government a few days back.
The state government had revised sugarcane rates to Rs 325 for the early variety, Rs 315 for mid variety and Rs 310 per quintal for the late maturing variety.
They have pointed out that neighbouring Haryana was giving Rs 358 per quintal to its cane growers.
Protesting farmers are demanding that the Punjab government raise the SAP of sugarcane and clear payment of arrears to the tune of Rs 200-250 crore.
Bharti Kisan Union general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni said their protest will continue till their demands are met.
The Protesters have blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch of the Delhi-Amritsar national highway near Dhanowali village of Jalandhar district.
The blockade affected vehicular movement to and from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pathankot, though the administration diverted the traffic through some alternative routes.
Emergency vehicles have, however, been allowed to ply, they added.
Farmers sitting on the Jalandhar-Chaheru section have blocked the Ludhiana-Amritsar and the Ludhiana-Jammu rail tracks in Jalandhar, affecting several trains.
