Chandigarh: Rail traffic was disrupted in Punjab after workers of the BJP Kisan Morcha stopped trains at several places in the state demanding a bonus for farmers and implementation of M S Swaminathan report.
Movement of a few trains, including Delhi-Amritsar Shatabadi were hit, with railway officials saying that protesters were not allowing to run trains from Amritsar, Phagwara and Sahnewal.
"We have requested Punjab Chief Secretary and Home Secretary to take adequate steps to clear affected railway tracks in Punjab in order to ensure smooth movement of trains," Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division, V Chaubey said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a railway official of Ambala division said that there had not been any impact on rail traffic in its division - till Rajpura in Punjab, till Kalka in Haryana and till Una in Himachal Pradesh - because of the protest.
BJP Kisan Morcha decided to observe `Rail Roko` in several states, including Punjab and Haryana. The protesters have demanded Rs 500 per quintal as bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,285 per quintal of wheat for current season. They rued that the MSP was not adequate to recover farmer`s input cost.
BJP Kisan Morcha had also been demanding that the Centre should implement M S Swaminathan committee report which had suggested that 50 per cent of total input cost should be added into MSP as profit.
PTI