Kurukshetra: Farmers in Haryana's Kurushetra took out a protest rally over the introduction of three ordinances in the agriculture sector, on Saturday (September 13). Bharatiya Kisan Union state chief Gurnam Singh said that these ordinances will create a system under which mandis will collapse and MSP scheme will be repealed.
"We were lathi-charged earlier and it is condemnable. The government should not have stopped the rally. Even political leaders are conducting rallies amid COVID-19 crisis. Police had resorted to lathi-charge leaving several people injured. Cases have been registered against farmers at various places," Gurnam Singh told ANI.
Earlier on September 10, farmers blocked National Highway 44 near Kurukshetra to lodge a protest against the three recent agriculture ordinances passed by the Union Cabinet.
Addressing media, Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police (SP) Astha Modi said that legal action will be taken against those who have violated law and order and Disaster Management Act."Police are alert and we have tried hard that without using force the farmers agree and move away," she said.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May introduced an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 as part of a COVID-19 relief measure. The Union Cabinet passed it in June and is now an ordinance. However, the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 will lapse if it doesn’t get cleared by the parliament in the upcoming session.
Under the amended Act, essential food commodities such as cereals, pulses, edible oil and sugar will be deregulated that is will be no storage limit or movement restriction of the following commodities. Only during emergency situations, like natural calamity limits on such stock can be imposed.
