Jalandhar: Various farmers unions on Friday blocked Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway in Punjab demanding pending dues of nearly Rs 200 crore from the state government.
Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee had announced to start an indefinite protest from Friday across Punjab by blocking national highways and railway tracks two days back.
Following this, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced a hike of Rs. 15 per quintal in the State Agreed Price (SAP) of all sugarcane varieties for the crushing season, 2021-22.
However, farmers rejected this proposal of the government and continued with their planned protest. They blocked major chowks on highways near Phagwara, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Kartarpur and many other locations, forcing local police to divert the traffic routes for Amritsar-Pathankot, Hoshiarpur to Jalandhar, Phagwara to Jandiala, Moga to Shahkot and Phagwara to Jalandhar besides many others.
Agitating farmers said that cane growers in Haryana were getting Rs 48 more than what they were getting in Punjab and they demanded a higher rise in the price by rejecting the government’s Rs 15 hike.
They said that sugarcane in Haryana was Rs 350 last year and it had now been increased to Rs 358, but in Punjab, the sugarcane growers were still getting a price of Rs 310 per quintal for the past five years and this Rs 15 hike a day before the protest was just an attempt to curtail the protest.
Farmers demanded around Rs 50 hike at the sugarcane price from this season.
DCP (law and order) Jagmohan Singh said that they are trying to ensure that the commuters do not face much harassment and various routes have been diverted.