Sangrur/Bathinda: The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) called off its statewide protest on Tuesday after district officials, led by additional deputy commissioner (ADC), Sangrur, handed over an official meeting invitation to union president Joginder Singh Ugrahan on stage.
State finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema will chair the panel along with cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Gurmeet Singh Khudian.
By Tuesday morning, union members blocked all entry gates at DACs across the region, barring government officers, staff, and visitors from entering the premises. Union leaders had originally threatened to continue the day-and-night sit-in indefinitely until their demands were met. The key demands include: Immediate withdrawal of the state’s land pooling policy; repeal of the four central labour codes, the Electricity Amendment Bill, the Seed Bill, and the VB-G RAM G scheme (the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin, which replaced MGNREGA). They also sought a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) on all crops and complete farm loan waivers for farmers and agricultural labourers besides compensation for crop damage caused by floods and natural disasters, alongside government jobs and financial aid for families affected by farm debt suicides. The union leaders demanded land ownership rights for agricultural labourers, cultivators, and long-term settlers.
Protesters burned effigies of chief minister Bhagwant Mann across districts on Monday night and blocked the official residence of the Sangrur deputy commissioner.
