In a bid to escalate their ongoing protest and press for a series of demands, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announced on Sunday that farmers’ unions would conduct a ‘Rail Roko’ protest across the nation.
The ‘Rail Roko’ protest, scheduled between 12 noon and 4 pm, coincides with the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.
Detailing the protest plans, Pandher, the general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, stated, “As part of the agitation that began on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 13, we have called for a ‘Rail Roko’ protest across the country today.”
“We appeal to all farmers, laborers, and the general public across the country to support us in the ‘Rail Roko’ today in large numbers. We also urge those who are scheduled to travel on trains between 12 noon and 4 pm today to postpone their journey by a few hours. Train passengers may face some inconvenience today. However, this is only a partial ‘Rail Roko’,” Pandher informed ANI on Sunday.
He further mentioned that as part of the protest, hundreds of farmers would occupy railway tracks at various locations.
The protesting farmers have been camped at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was halted by security forces on February 13.
The protesters have presented several demands to the government, including a legal assurance of minimum support prices (MSP) for their produce, the withdrawal of police cases against them from previous protests, pensions for farmers and agricultural laborers, debt relief, and no increase in electricity rates.
During the latest round of talks with the farmers’ delegation, which concluded after midnight on February 18, a panel of three Union ministers offered to procure five crops—moong dal, urad dal, tur dal, maize, and cotton—from farmers at MSP for five years through central agencies. However, the protesting farmers rejected the offer and returned to their protest sites.