Fatehabad (Haryana): A week following the initiation of a march by a group of Fatehabad farmers, who were en route to Chandigarh to advocate for compensation for crop losses resulting from floods and pest attacks, as well as to address other agricultural concerns through the ‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Haryana,’ the protest was called off following assurances from the state government, reported The Tribune.
To stop the farmers, the Ambala police placed barricades and parking bumpers along the Ambala-Naraingarh road, prompting them to stage a sit-in and raise slogans against the state government.
Mandeep Nathwan, President of the Pagri Sambhal Jatta association, lamented the government’s failure to compensate farmers despite repeated appeals. Subsequently, SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa arrived at the spot and successfully persuaded the farmers. A seven-member delegation, consisting of Mandeep Nathwan, Tejveer Singh, Satish Beniwal, Om Parkash, Kuldeep Singh, Gurvinder Singh, and Devi Dayal, departed for Chandigarh for a meeting with Rajesh Khullar, Chief Principal Secretary to the CM.
After the meeting, Mandeep Nathawan said, “Farmers who suffered losses due to pink bollworm will be compensated whether they are insured or not. The government has assured to increase the compensation amount for crop loss due to floods, and the government will not charge any amount for shifting tubewells that were damaged due to floods. Also, demands related to transformers have been accepted. Another meeting has been scheduled for October 20 in Chandigarh.”
BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) spokesperson Tejveer Singh said, “The dues of Naraingarh Sugar Mills will be cleared soon, the appointment letter of Ravinder Singh, who had lost his leg during agitation, will be issued before October 15, and to raise the complaint of transformer theft the government will launch a new portal. The march has been called off.”
