On Friday, the farmers’ highway blockade in Jalandhar, Punjab, which they launched in protest of rising sugarcane prices, entered its fourth day. In relation to the matter, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will meet with the leaders of the farmer unions today at his official residence at approximately 12 pm.
Two days earlier, the Chief Minister had extended an invitation to farmers for a conversation. He asked them not to obstruct roads because it is inconvenient for the wider community.
The farmers are requesting a rise in sugarcane prices from Rs 380 to Rs 450 per quintal. They are also calling for the cane-crushing activities at sugar mills to resume.
They have set up a tent in the middle of the road and are camping there as a form of protest.
For the past four days, farmers led by Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba) have been holding a “dharna” in the middle of the highway between Jalandhar and Phagwara, which has also impacted traffic between Jalandhar and Delhi.
Vehicles traveling from Jammu, Pathankot, and Amritsar to Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Nawanshahr, and Delhi via Jalandhar have been impacted by the protest there.
According to officials, the protesting farmers also blocked a portion of the railway track on Thursday close to Dhanowali village in Jalandhar affecting the train movememt.
Leader of the farmers, Balwinder Singh, had earlier claimed that the state government, which has yet to announce sugarcane prices or begin cane crushing, had forced them to come on roads, according to news agency PTI.
They claimed that although the government had cancelled the meeting scheduled for November 16th, it had promised to address their concerns.
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