Commission Agents from five grain market sit on dharna near village Arif Ke, block road for several hours

Ferozepur, April 25, 2023: Agitated due to no lifting of grain, the commission agents belonging to five grain markets including Arif ke, Dulla Singh Wala, Ruknewala, Kamal Bodla, Ghulami Wala today sat on dharna and blocked the Ferozepur-Mallanwala road near Arif ke due to which hundreds of commuters going towards Patti, Mallanwala and Makhu had to suffer.

It is pertinent to mention here that yesterday also, the commission agents belonging to these five grain markets had sat on dharna in front of District Food Controller Office. Later the dharna was lifted after assurance that the wheat will be lifted today but the commission agents had threatened to intensify their protest today.

Today the members of various farmer’s union including Bachan Singh Bhullar, State Vice President BKU Behram Ke, Malkit Singh Gulami Wala District President Kissan Majdoor Morcha Punjab  and others also joined the protest.

Saraj Singh Sarpanch of Village Baggewala said that they had brought their crops to the market on April 13 but since then it is laying open there and no officials has come to them for lifting. “The government had claimed that the wheat will be purchased within 72 hours but we have been sitting in open ground under adverse weather conditions for the last thirteen days. Due to consistent rains, our wheat is getting damaged. We had been patiently waiting till now but now we have lost our patience and today we were forced to sit on dharna”, said Sarpanch Saraj Singh.

The commission agents also alleged that the administration has given the contracts for lifting to their “favourites” transporters due to which farmers and agents are bearing the brunt now. Bachan Singh Bhullar, said that the weather is deteriorating but till now not even a single grain from these five grain markets have been lifted and all their pleas till now have fallen on deaf ears.

The commission agents also alleged that the transport unions got the contract due to low tender rate but could not provide the proper transportation for the lifting of the grain. “We demand that the administration must cancel the tender of the transporter and allot the tender to some other transporter. In case, if any of the commission agents commit suicide, the administration will be responsible for that”, said Bachan Singh Bhullar.

The dharna was later lifted following the assurance given by SDM Ferozepur Arvind Kumar, who met the protesters and assured them that the lifting will be done as soon as possible.

On this occasion Baba Dilbagh Singh, Gurdarshan Singh Ruknewala, Jasbir Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Angrej Singh, Jarnail Singh, Kashmir Singh, Paramjit Singh, Bakshish Singh, Nishan Singh, Sukhpal Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Harnkek Singh, Gurdev Singh, Hardev Singh, Dharam Singh and others were present.

As per data available, overall 559453 MTs wheat has arrived till now in the market out of which 540123 Mt wheat has been procured, 137241 MTs wheat has been lifted while 402882 MTs wheat has been lying open in grain markets.