The Punjabi Cultural Council (PCC) on Sunday urged the Centre to consider extending ex-gratia benefits to the farmers who have lost their lives during the ongoing farmers' protests in the national capital.
Apart from writing a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the council has also urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for personal intervention in helping the farmers at Delhi borders with proactive support.
"Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have already lost 149 precious lives during protests in Delhi since November 25. In addition to this, 13 farmers have sacrificed their lives in Punjab during the rail roko stir since September 2019. This is unacceptable as any loss of life is a gross injustice to our farmers who are toiling hard for the nation besides providing jobs to farm labour," they said in the letter.
The council also underlined that chief ministers of Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and West Bengal have also expressed their concerns over the three farm laws passed by the Centre in the Parliament last year.
"The PCC has sought personal intervention of Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar towards ensuring these affected families with all support as their breadwinners have sacrificed their lives while struggling at Delhi borders in very adverse conditions," the press release issued by them said.
It added, "The Council has also submitted a list of all deceased farmers to the union minister to provide active assistance and cooperation to the bereaved families in every way possible in a greater spirit of our gratitude towards our Anndatas."
"The BJP-led NDA government must realise the implications of their catastrophic attempts to benefit crony capitalists at the cost of farmers who have not only pulled India from being a begging bowl to make it a nation with food surplus, but has also brought revenues for state and central governments," said PCC Chairman Harjeet Singh Grewal.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
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