Shops shut in Punjab and Haryana, 5,000 buses off roads amid 'Bharat bandh' call by farmers
Farmers gather as they protest to demand minimum crop prices, near the Punjab-Haryana state border at Shambhu in Patiala district. AFP
Expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers, the employees of state-owned Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and private public transport bus operators in Punjab on Friday went on strike, leaving many commuters stranded as over 5,000 buses stayed off the roads.
The impact of the shutdown, named ‘Bharat Bandh’, from 6am to 4pm, was also seen in neighbouring Haryana as shops and commercial establishments stayed closed.
The Union Home Ministry has ordered suspension of telecom services in Shutrana, Khanauri and Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab on Friday in the wake of the Bharat bandh call by farmer unions.
Petroleum dealers in Punjab closed filling stations to back the call for the shutdown.
The activists of several farmer associations were seen asking traders at several places in the AAP-ruled Punjab to keep their shops and business establishments closed to mark the protest.
Farmer leaders said they would block key roads and occupy toll plazas during the shutdown.
Reports of total shutdown of shops and other establishments were received from Patiala, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and other places.
Sufficient security arrangements were made in both the states to prevent any untoward incident, said a senior police official here.
People, especially women, faced inconvenience across the state due to the strike. Many passengers said they had to opt for taxis to reach their destinations.
Meanwhile, the third round of talks between the Central government and farmer leaders ended early on Friday with Union Minister Arjun Munda saying a "very positive" discussion happened.
It has been decided that the next meeting will take place on Sunday, February 18, at 6pm.
"We all will find a solution peacefully," Munda told the media here after the talks that lasted for nearly five hours.
The third round of talks between farmer leaders and Union ministers – Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai – started after a delay of three hours on Thursday evening.
The farmer leaders who took part in the meeting included Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jarnail Singh.
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal on Thursday praised the farmers of the country for the rise in production and quality of agriculture products that had made India self-sufficient in food and enabled the annual export of over $50 billion of agricultural and related products.
Addressing the NAFED: Pulse 2024 convention in New Delhi, Goyal said that over the last decade, due to the commitment and capabilities of the farmers, pulses production has grown by 60 per cent from 171 lakh tonnes in 2014 to 270 lakh tonnes in 2024.
Indo-Asian News Service
