As the “Delhi Chalo” agitation entered the third day, three Union ministers met with the leaders of protesting farmer unions in Chandigarh Thursday evening amid a standoff between the protesters and security personnel at two points on the Punjab-Haryana border.
This is the third round of talks between farmer leaders and the central government– the previous two rounds of dialogue on February 8 and 12 remained inconclusive. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 in which Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the central government.
Farmers launched their stir on February 13 over various demands, including a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
Police and paramilitary personnel kept a tight vigil on the activities at the borders of the national capital.
An officer said strict vigil, heavy deployment of personnel and multi-layer barricades will remain in place as the protesting farmers are still sitting at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, near Ambala.
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- The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), along with central trade unions, have called for a Gramin Bharat Bandh (nationwide strike) on February 16 to press forth their demands before the Centre amid the ongoing protest by the farmers on Delhi borders.
- The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) has urged all like-minded farmer organisations to unite and take part in the Bharat bandh. The day-long protest will begin at 6 am and end at 4 pm. The farmers will participate in a chakka jam on major roads across the country from 12 pm to 4 pm.
- Three Union ministers held their third round of talks with the leaders of protesting farmer unions in Chandigarh.
- The Delhi Police has ordered more than 30,000 teargas shells from the Border Security Force’s (BSF) Tear Smoke unit, officials said.
- The Delhi Police, along with the paramilitary personnel, conducted drills and mock exercises where they were asked to move towards the barricades in anti-riot gear at the Singhu and Tikri borders. They were ordered by their seniors to act as if they were controlling a mob.
- Board exams, however, were held without any hassle and no delay was reported in the conduct of the examination at the border areas of Delhi. Vehicles were arranged by the police and paramilitary officials to help students reach the exam centres near the Tikri border.
- A senior police officer said in the wake of a “Bharat Bandh” call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in support of the protesting farmers, the force is on high alert. Security personnel remained deployed at a third border point — Ghazipur.
- In the evening, a group of 50 farmers from Meerut arrived in their cars. They were detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police as they wanted to stage a sit-in at the Ghazipur border.
- Some trains on the Delhi-Amritsar route were diverted after farmers squatted on railway tracks at many places in Punjab over the Haryana Police’s action against the “Delhi Chalo” protesters. Farmers also staged dharnas at several toll plazas and forced authorities not to charge commuters a toll fee.
- Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and BKU Dakunda (Dhaner) had given a call for a four-hour “rail roko” protest at several places in Punjab.
- The Haryana government on Thursday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts by two days till February 17 in view of the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation. These districts are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa, the government said in an order.(With PTI inputs)
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