Jalandhar: Sugarcane farmers from the region, who had planned to block traffic on the national highway between Jalandhar and Phagwara and stop rail movement near Dhanowali on Friday, have postponed their protest for four days. The farmers had earlier warned the government that they would go ahead with the blockade if their demands, an increase in the State Advised Price (SAP) of sugarcane, release of pending dues from sugar mills, and announcement of the cane crushing season, were not met, reports The Tribune.
The decision to defer the protest was taken after Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba) president Manjit S Rai and Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee president Balwinder S Malli Nangal met Secretary, Agriculture, Arshdeep S Thind, and Punjab Cane Commissioner Amrik Singh in Chandigarh on Thursday evening.
Rai said the officials requested time until November 24 to resolve the issues. He noted that they were told a meeting would be held on Monday to decide the SAP and the dates for starting the crushing season. “They told us they will meet on Monday and settle these matters. Once they inform us of the outcome, we will decide our next steps,” Rai said in a video message after the meeting.
Nangal, who was also part of the discussion, added that the officials assured them that all pending payments owed to sugarcane farmers by sugar mills would be cleared soon.
