Punjab’s Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) has launched a statewide dharna (sit-in) protest against the electricity issues hampering farming activity during the peak sowing season. The convenor of KMM, Sarwan Singh Pandher, said the electricity shortage is disrupting paddy sowing, with farmers struggling to irrigate agricultural fields due to frequent power cuts.
Tensions escalated between farmers and the administration after their march to CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Moga was disrupted by the police. The convener also alleged that despite prior intimation to the authorities on the farmer delegation’s visit, they were detained by the police.
He added that if the current dispensation continued to suppress farmers’ voices, the unions would do a chakka jam.
The farmer body also said they would continue to meet CM Mann’s Lok Milni programmes to raise their genuine demands and issues facing the farming community of the state of Punjab.
Pandher alleged that power supplies to agricultural fields have been reduced to just four hours and that poor farmers are being forced to sell their holdings to raise money to run diesel-powered motors just to irrigate their fields.
Despite raising the issue with the Power Minister and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of PSPCL, no action has been taken, Pandher claimed.
Farmers have been assured of uninterrupted electricity, but in reality many areas were receiving only two-and-a-half to four hours of supply daily, severely affecting irrigation during the paddy season, he added.
The KMM demanded as many as 16 hours of uninterrupted electricity for agricultural use and 24 hours for domestic consumers.
Also read: Dhillon targets CM Mann over Punjab's 'power surplus' claims
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