Punjab Sugarcane Farmers Block Highway, Want Hike In State Purchase Price

Farmers gathered under the banner of the Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee, and pointed out that sugarcane growers in neighbouring Haryana get Rs 48 more per quintal

Sugarcane farmers demanding a fair price for their crop mounted a protest on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway on Friday, with hundreds camping out in the middle of the road and forcing diversion of traffic from both cities, as well as Ludhiana, Pathankot and nearby areas. After this hike the SAP of sugarcane in Punjab has gone up from ₹310 to ₹325 for early variety, ₹300 to ₹315 for mid-variety and ₹295 to ₹310 per quintal for late maturing variety. Visuals of the protest showed hundreds sitting on NH 1, waving farmer union flags and shouting slogans against the government. As many as 32 farmer unions have gathered for this protest. They have also blocked the railway track near Dhanowali village, due to which the Shan-e-Punjab express (from Amritsar to Delhi) was stopped at the station in Jalandhar. The farmers, who gathered under the banner of Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee, have complained that sugarcane growers in neighbouring Haryana get Rs 48 more per quintal.