Kisan Union to 'gherao' Parliament in March

Moga, Oct 16 (UNI) The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) has decided to 'gherao' Parliament in March next year, to highlight the problems of the agricultural community and to protest against the failure of the government to link the MSP of wheat, paddy and other foodgrains with the wholesale price index.

This decision was taken at the national executive committee meeting of the BKU held at New Delhi yesterday. The meeting was chaired by BKU chief Mahinder Singh Tikat.

The protest before Parliament would also demand waiving loans of the farmers amounting to Rs 50,000 crore and advancement of crop loans at the rate of four per cent, Punjab BKU chief Ajmer Singh Lakhowal who attended the meeting, said here today on his return from the national capital.

Besides Mr Tikat and Mr Lakhowal, the prominent persons who attended the Delhi meeting were-- Haryana BKU president Gurnam Singh Haryana, Chaudhary Yudhvir Singh, President of the Delhi Unit and all India Coordinator and a number of others.

According to Mr Lakhowal, the national executive was critical of the Centre for its step motherly treatment towards the farmers, whose economic condition was deteriorating day-by-day, as they were not being given remunerative prices for their produce. The meeting took note of the increasing costs of agriculture inputs.

The BKU has appealed to the Prime Minister and the Union Food Minister to take the wholesale price index into cosideration before fixing the MSP of grains. The BKU also demanded a special economic package for the farmers of northeren states on the pattern given to the southern states.

The national executive, according to Mr Lakhowal, also directed all the state units of the BKU to hold Maha Panchayats and motivate the farmers for Parliament 'gherao'. The date of the protest would be announced in January next year.

Mr Lakhowal stated that the Punjab BKU would be holding its Maha Panchayat on December four at Chandigarh.

UNI