A halt of goods trains amid the protest of farmer unions forces farmers to bring fertilizer from neighbouring states. Four farmers of Punjab arrested for purchasing urea from Haryana.
Four Farmers Arrested for Buying and Moving Urea from Haryana
Haryana agricultural officials have booked four farmers of Punjab under Section 3 of the Fertilizer Act (Movement Control), 1973 and Section 7 of The Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Sadar police in Jind, Haryana arrested four farmers of Malwa belt including two from Ludhiana who was moving urea from the state to sow wheat. Also, they confiscated their tractors and trailers carrying 840 bags of urea fertilizer.
Farmer Union Questions the Government
Farmer unions, terming the official’s and cop’s action vindictive, urged Captain Amarinder Singh to free them. Further, Baldev Latala, leader of the All-India Kisan Sabha stated that SDO Baljeet Singh along with other officials had registered an FIR against four Malwa farmers. Also, he questioned how it is fair just to arrest the buyers and not the dealers? Besides, he mentioned that farmer is helpless as he cannot afford to delay sowing of wheat.
We Will Try to Resume Urea Supply Soon- National Fertilizers Limited Public Relations officer
Several farmers protested in front of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Bathinda raising slogans against the Union and state governments. They even blocked the national highway as they were unable to get urea despite having a manufacturer in their locality. Citing the situation, NFL Public relations officer Mayank Sharma clarified that despite the disruption of freight services, the supply of raw material remained unaffected. Therefore, the company will try to streamline the supply of urea once train services resume.
In all, farmers complain that they need urea urgently as wheat sowing is at its peak across the state. They have warned the authorities to intensify the protest if they don’t get fertilizer on time.