Rupnagar: Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday laid foundation stone of Sports Stadium at Village Roadmajra in Sri Chamkaur Sahib Constituency in the presence of renowned environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal.

The Sports stadium will be built in the memory of farmers who lost their lives during Farmers agitation for scrapping three black laws imposed by the BJP led centre government. The Chief Minister also gave a grant of Rs one crore for building the stadium in the memory of farmers.

Channi also inaugurated the water tank constructed at a cost of Rs. 45.81 lakh to supply clean drinking water to the residents of villages Rodmajra and Chaklan.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister said that this sports stadium which is being built by the state government will be a real tribute to the farmers who had lost their lives in the agitation against black laws.

The Chief Minister said that as per the unanimous decision taken during the all party meeting, the Punjab Government would convene a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on November 8 to unanimously reject the three black farmer laws imposed by the Union Government.

He said that 16 new sports stadiums are coming up in the Sri Chamkaur Sahib Constituency for which 2.50 Cr. a grant has already been released to start the work for the first phase besides rupees one crore grant to the sports stadium at village Roadmajra.

He further said that all the ongoing development projects and proposed projects for Sri Chamkaur Sahib will be completed within set time limits. He also said that the strengthening of Bela-Paniali road connecting 344-A would give a big boost to the economic development of the area and work for construction of Rs 114 crore bridge on river Satluj has already begun.

The post Three-farm bills: Sports stadium to be constructed in Punjab in memory of deceased farmers appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Sunday condemned the killing of two farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri when a car in the convoy of the son of a union minister allegedly ran over the peacefully protesting farmers.

In a statement issued here today, the Deputy Chief Minister said he had rushed a team of senior officials to Lakhimpur Kheri to find out the details and assured all support to the victims.

He alleged that the farmers were protesting on the roadside and waving black fags to a convoy of a union minister. He said it was a symbolic protest only. But one of the cars in the convoy of the son of the particular minister allegedly ran over the protestors, which led to death of two farmers on the spot while injuries to eight others.

Randhawa demanded immediate arrest of the culprits ,registration of case for murder against them and suitable compensation to the families of deceased and injured.

He said, this was a cold blooded murder of the farmers at the hands of the BJP leader who ran over peacefully protesting farmers.

He said, this was the test for the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as to whether he will do justice in the case with the farmers by arresting the culprits and bringing them to book.

Promising justice to the victims, Randhawa said, the Punjab government will provide all the assistance needed to them.

Reiterating his government’s support for the farmers’ cause, the Deputy Chief Minister said he was already in touch with the farmers’ leaders who were updating him about the latest developments. He said, the sacrifice of the two farmers will not be allowed to go in vain, while at the same time asserting that the culprits will not be spared.
He also appealed the union government to come down from their adamant stand and repeal the three laws so that precious lives are not lost.

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Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday appealed the Centre to immediately repeal the three black farm laws otherwise his government would convene a special session of Vidhan Sabha to reject these anti-farm laws outrightly to safeguard the interest of the farmers and farm labourers, who are already passing through acute economic crisis.
Addressing the media persons here at Chief Minister’s Office, Channi said he had already asked the then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to reject these laws but the Cabinet at that time authorized him to take any decision, as he deems fit. He, however, chose to bring the amended bills instead of rejecting these draconian farm legislations.
Urging the Centre to give due recognition to the border state of Punjab for its unprecedented sacrifices to uphold the country’s integrity and sovereignty, Channi said that the Centre should not try to foment trouble in the state like J&K rather it should sincerely resolve the ongoing farm crisis at the earliest in the larger interest of the country.
Reiterating his firm commitment to stand by the farmers and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha in this hour of crisis, the Chief Minister said that he would even lead a mammoth march towards Delhi either by foot or on bi-cycle to support their cause in case the Centre doesn’t concede their demand to repeal these laws forthwith.
Expressing solidarity with the farmers and the farm labourers in their ongoing agitation against these farm laws, the Chief Minister categorically said that he would support their concerns. He bemoaned that these laws would ultimately perish the state’s peasantry as our beleaguered farmers are already reeling under whopping debt to the tune of Rs.1 lac crore and thus the Centre should now come forward to bail them out from this financial crisis.
Channi said it is ironical that ‘Anndaata’ has been virtually forced to become ‘Bhikhari’ due to the Centre’s apathy and stubborn attitude. “If Centre can afford to waive the huge loans of big corporate houses what stops it from waiving the loans of poor and needy farmers?” quipped Channi.
He, however, said that the state government had already provided relief to the small and marginal farmers upto Rs.2 lac and now farm labourers are also being extended relief to the extent of Rs.25,000, with whatever little resources it had.
Extending a healing touch to the victim families of the deceased farmers, who lost their lives during the stir against these farm laws, the Chief Minister said his government has provided government jobs to their family members besides giving financial assistance of Rs.5 lac per family.
Touching an emotional chord, the Chief Minister shared an incident where he personally handed over an appointment letter recently to such family who were living in extremely deplorable conditions in a house even without a roof. He said the victim of that family in Bathinda district was constructing the house with the financial aid of Rs. 5 lac received from the government.
Listing his government’s priority to provide houses to houseless, the Chief Minister said that the process of allotment of 5-marla plots is being simplified and has now empowered the BDPOs to decide the cases after the resolution passed by the concerned village panchayats. The entire process to identify and finalize the allotment of plots to the eligible beneficiaries would be completed within a month, added Mr. Channi.

The post Punjab CM urges centre to repeal farm laws immediately appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

New Delhi: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said that farmers will not permit central government to implement the contentious three-farm bills in the country and they are protesting against it for the last 10 months but are ready to agitate for 10 years, if required.

Speaking at a mahapanchayat held by farmers in Panipat on Sunday before the bandh, Tikait said that it has been 10 months of this agitation but BJP-led union government is not willing redress the genuine demands of the farmers and government must listen with open ears that even if we have to agitate for 10 years we are ready.

Several senior farmer leaders, including Tikait and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, addressed the mahapanchayat. Chaduni urged all sections of society to join the Bharat Bandh and observe a peaceful protest.

The post Ready to protest for 10 years, three-farm bills will not be allowed to get implemented; Rakesh Tikait appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

Chandigarh: To mark their protest against three contentious farm-bills, farmer organisations have called a “Bharat Bandh” on Monday and blocked highways along with railway tracks at various locations in the country.
On the directions of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), farmers are holding protest at nearly 500 places in Punjab, including the sites of 108 pucca dharnas. They have called for the closure of government and private offices, educational and other institutions, shops, industries and commercial establishments. However, farmers were instructed by the SKM to allow passengers those are in emergency including ambulances during the road block.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has extended support to the bandh. Similarly, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav announced to take part in the protest. The Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments also extended their full support to the Bandh. Congress has also said it will be joining the protests on Monday.
The bandh will be held from 6am to 4pm on Monday. No political parties will be given space on farmers’ stage, farmers said.

Live update-

– 25 trains affected due to Bharat Bandh: Railways
The Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab, New Delhi-Moga Express, Old Delhi-Payhajot Express, Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Katra, and Amritsar Shatabdi are some of the trains affected.

– Punjab: The first Cabinet meeting of the full Council of Ministers as a meeting called to express solidarity with the farmers by the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday. Only farmer issues were discussed, Channi said.

-Mumbai: No impact of strike; shops, transport operating as usual in Mumbai. The local police have not deployed an extra security force at key junctions and roads in the wake of the Bharat Bandh

– Amritsar: Protestors block railway tracks near Amritsar on Bharat Bandh

-Delhi-Gurgaon border on high security, traffic restricted

– Muktsar: Farmers block all highways in the district.

– Delhi-Amritsar National Highway blocked
– Railway track blocked near Fatehgarh village in Charkhi Dadri district
– Rohtak: Farmers blocked all roads passing through Rohtak.
– Sangrur: Sangrur-Patiala, Sangrur-Ludhiana and Sangrur-Bathinda roads have been blocked by farmers.
– Road blocked at dhanana village in Bhiwani district.
– Chandigarh-Bathinda national highway near Passiana police station in Patiala district have been blocked.

– Hisar: A train has been halted by farmers near Ramayan village where farmers sit on dharna at a toll plaza.
– Ludas-Shahpur road in Hisar district also blocked.
– Jhajjar: The Rohtak-Delhi track is blocked by agitating farmers at Bahadurgarh railway station near Tikri border.
– Haryana: Paramilitary forces deployed in Jind district

The post Bharat Bandh Today Live Updates: Farmers block highways, rail tracks; Delhi-UP traffic affected appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, Lok Sabha lawmaker Harsmirat Kaur Badal among several leaders have been detained by the Delhi Police for holding a protest against three-farm bills here on Friday.

As the nation marked one year of the black Farm Laws, Akali Dal held protest in the national capital as ‘Black Day’ .

Following this, they were detained and taken to Sansad Marg Police Station, according to sources.

Badal, while holding the protest, accused Modi-led BJP government and Haryana government of stopping SAD workers.

He said, “BJP resorted to baton charge and broke our vehicles. Even though, our was a peaceful protest. Only Punjab but the entire country is against Narendra Modi government and three-farm bills,” he said.

The post Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Badal, Harsmirat detained in Delhi over farm stir appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

Chandigarh: As the nation marked one year of the black Farm Laws, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday demanded immediate scrapping of the legislations by the Centre, calling for detailed discussions with the farmers to find a way forward.

Pointing out that many farmers had died in these protests, the Chief Minister said it was high time the Central Government realised its blunder and withdrew the legislations in the interest of the farmers and the nation.

The Chief Minister, wearing a #nofarmers_nofood bade, was inaugurating the 3rd state level virtual Kisan Mela organised by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The 2-day mela is centered on the theme: ‘KARIE PARALI DI SAMBHAL, DHARTI MAA HOVE KHUSHHAL”, in line with the state government’s focus on eliminating stubble burning.

“Till date, the Indian Constitution has been amended as many as 127 times, so why can it not be amended once again to scrap the Farm Laws and resolve the imbroglio resulting from them,” asked the Chief Minister. “What is the problem in doing it a 128th time,” he demanded to know from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, which was out to ruin the farmers.

What was happening with the farmers today was extremely sad, given the immense contribution made by them to India’s development and progress, said Captain Amarinder, calling for immediate revocation of the laws, which he said were detrimental to the interest not just of the agricultural community but the entire country.

Recalling that he had been asked by the Centre to stop Punjab’s farmers from going to Delhi last November, the Chief Minister said he had refused point blank to do so, as protest is the democratic right of farmers. “Why should they not protest? How can I stop them,” he asked, making it clear that he continues to stand with the farmers in their fight against the draconian legislations, with his government continuing to give compensation and jobs to the families of the deceased farmers.

Noting the contribution of Punjab and its farmers to the country’s growth, the Chief Minister said the state, with only 1.53 % of total geographical area of India, produces about 18% of the country’s wheat, 11% paddy, 4.4% cotton and 10% milk. For the past many decades, Punjab has been contributing about 35-40% of wheat and 25-30% of rice to the central pool, he said, expressing pride in the achievements of the state’s farmers.

The post Scrap farm laws, talk to farmers, Punjab CM tells Centre  appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said no Akali leader, especially former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, had the moral right to speak on the crisis triggered by the Farm Laws, which they could easily have averted when they were part of the central government and party to each of its anti-people decisions.

In a hard-hitting response to Harsimrat’s irresponsible claims and baseless allegations against him with reference to his statement on the impact of the prolonged farmers’ stir in Punjab on the state’s economy, the Chief Minister slammed the Akali leader over her politically motivated remarks which were nothing but a cover-up of her and her party’s failure to prevent the crisis that was of their own deliberate making.

Ridiculing the former union minister’s remarks that he (Captain Amarinder) was speaking the language of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership and the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said that left to the ruling party at the Centre and in neighbouring Haryana, the farmers would not have even reached the Delhi borders to make their voice heard. “I never asked the farmers to go to Delhi. They were forced to leave their homes and sit at the border of the national capital, facing the elements and even losing their lives, as a result of your coalition government’s acts of commission and omission,” he said, asking Harsimrat to stop lying about her brazen complicity in the imposition of the Farm Laws on the farmers, not just of Punjab but the entire country.

Dubbing as atrocious Harsimrat’s suggestion that the farmers should protest in Punjab while their fight was against the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Chief Minister quipped “it’s like asking someone to go to the western front to fight an enemy that is standing at the eastern border.” It was evident that the Akalis were trying to divert the farmers’ attention from the Centre to the state, with an eye on the Assembly polls, unmindful of the harm this would cause to the state and to the farmers themselves, he added.

Taking a dig at Harsimrat’s claim of being “surprised and pained” at his remarks, the Chief Minister said either the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader was deliberately lying or was totally dumb and apathetic to the plight of the state and its people. “It’s a joke coming from the leader of a party that misruled Punjab for 10 years and brought the state to the brink of complete ruination,” he said.

The post Capt Amarinder slams Harsimrat over three-farm bills appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said it was unfortunate that the farmers agitating against the black Farm Laws had given a political twist to his remarks instead of understanding the pain and misery caused to the people on account of their protests in the state, which were quite uncalled for, given his government’s continued support to them.

Reacting to Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s criticism of the remarks he had made yesterday on the issue, the Chief Minister lamented that despite his government’s unequivocal support to their cause, the farmers had misinterpreted his appeal and had, instead, tried to link it with the upcoming Assembly polls in Punjab. His government, as well as the people of Punjab, had always stood with the farmers on the issue of the Farm Laws, and it was sad that they were now suffering due to the continued protests of the farming community across the state, he added.

The Chief Minister asserted that there was no question of trying to split the farmers of Punjab and Haryana, all of whom were equal victims of the apathy of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the neighbouring state. “My government, in contrast, has not only firmly supported the farmers’ fight against the Farm Laws but had even brought in amendment Bills in the Vidhan Sabha to mitigate their adverse impact,” he pointed out, adding that those Bills had, unfortunately, not been forwarded by the Governor to the President for assent.

Pointing out that the farmers’ fight was against the BJP, which was solely responsible for thrusting the anti-farmer legislations on Punjab and other states, Captain Amarinder said inconveniencing the people of Punjab was not justified in the circumstances.

He rejected the Morcha’s claims that there was no paralysis of the government in Punjab due to the farmers’ protests, pointing out that it was not the Adanis or the Ambanis whose interests were being hurt by such protests but the common people of the state, as well as its economy.

The Adanis’ assets in Punjab were a miniscule 0.8% of their total assets, and the presence of the Reliance Group stood at a nominal 0.1%, the Chief Minister observed, adding that the losses caused to these industries due to the farmers’ unrest in the state were too minor to be of any serious concern to them. “It is the people of Punjab who are suffering due to the disruption of services as a result of the protests,” he said.

Continued protests in Punjab will push industry out of the state, which would have a severe impact on the economy, which his government was still trying to revive from the crisis into which the previous SAD-BJP government had pushed it, said the Chief Minister. Already, the situation was becoming serious on the grain storage and procurement front due to the agitation, with lifting of the stocks by the FCI and state agencies getting obstructed, he said. With the wheat stocks having already completed 4 years of storage, the unused capacity was getting ruined, while also resulting in financial burden on the public exchequer due to payment of guaranteed charges to the silo owners as per agreements of hiring, said Captain Amarinder, disclosing that the stocks lying in the FCI Adani silo at Moga alone was worth Rs 480 crore.

All the movement of wheat stocks from FCI Adani silo, Moga and FCI silo, Kotkapura is halted due to the on-going farmers protest against the Farm Laws, whereas, 160855 MT of wheat stocks of previous crop years stored in the Adani silo, Moga by FCI needs to be liquidated on priority, as deterioration of these stocks may lead to losses to the Public exchequer. The value of stocks in Moga Adani silos is approximately Rs 480 crores.

Further, pointed out the Chief Minister, construction of silos awarded by FCI in the state was getting delayed as farmer unions were not allowing JCBs and trucks to enter the construction sites. This was a serious cause of concern since the GoI/FCI had already announced that from RMS 2024-25 onwards, procurement of wheat in the central pool will only be done as per the available covered/scientific storage capacity. What is further likely to damage the state’s interests is reports of silo concessionaires/parties also considering to shut down the projects being set up in Punjab, he added.

“If things continue in this manner, we will lose out on investment, revenue and employment opportunities,” the Chief Minister warned, adding that this would lead to serious paralysis of the government in Punjab.

The farmers could not possibly want to lead Punjab and its people back into the depths of despair from which his government had barely managed to pull them out over the past four and a half years, said Captain Amarinder, once again urging the farmers to discontinue their protests in Punjab, which was not even remotely responsible for their plight.

The post Political twist by farmers to my appeal to call off protests in Punjab is unfortunate’: Punjab CM appeared first on TV Punjab | English News Channel.

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday has asked the union government and various states of the country to submit that what action has been taken against the business, livelihood, and daily life being adversely affected by the ongoing farmers’ protests against the three central agriculture laws.

The Commission has issued notices to chief secretaries and police chiefs of state governments of Haryana Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, asking them to furnish the report into the matter.

The Commission said that this move came after inundated complaints received from people that they are being harassed by farmers protest who have been picketing and staging indefinite sit-ins at a number of places in these states, including the outskirts of Delhi.

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