Chandigarh: Farmers led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Thursday squatted on rail tracks at 16 locations across Punjab, delaying over 25 trains by several hours, causing inconveniences to passengers.
Railway authorities as a precautionary measure stopped several trains in the state, including on the mainline Phagwara-Jalandhar section in the wake of blockade of rail track by protesting farmers between 11 am and 4 pm.
The protest affected the trains running during the day time hours which were mostly passenger trains, including on the mainline Delhi Amritsar Jammu and Ambala Patiala Bhatinda sections. Railway sources said that though some local passenger trains were delayed due to the protest the long distance trains were running late due to fog conditions.
BKU, Punjab president, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal claimed that farmers stopped trains at several locations including Phagwara, Khanna, Moga, Bathinda, Abohar, Ferozepur, Patiala, Sangrur.
"Not a single train was allowed to run between 11 am till 4 pm," he claimed.
Farmers are demanding fixing of Minimum Support Price (MSP) of all crops as per the Swaminathan committee report, waiving off the existing debt and granting all future loans at three per cent interest, preparation of a separate agriculture budget, formulation of agriculture polices by Central government as per the requirement of states. A report from Phagwara said that railway authorities stopped an Empty Stock Special load train at Chaheru railway station on Phagwara-Jalandhar rail section and the Jammu Tavi-Banaras Express at Goraya, on Phagwara-Ludhiana rail section in view of the protest.
Consequently, a large number of passengers, including women and children, remained stranded at Goraya, reports said.
Lakhowal said that the National Coordination Committee of BKU will now meet in New Delhi after the elections in five states and then chalk out the next course of action to press the Centre to accept farmers` demands.
PTI