Punjab farmers' unions to lift rail blockade for 15 days, CM urges Centre to resume trains

Following CM Amarinder Singh's appeal to call off the 'Rail Roko Andolan', Punjab farmers have decided to lift the rail blockade on November 23 onwards for the next 15 days, allowing all goods and passenger trains to continue services. On November 13, the Punjab CM had urged farmer unions to lift off their blockade, assuring the state government's support against the three farm bills introduced by the Centre. 

Farmers have been observing the 'Rail Roko Andolan' since September, with several unions squatting on railway tracks restricting trains from plying as usual. As a result, the Railway Ministry had suspended goods railway services, which consequently impacted the transport of coal and other essentials in the state. The Railways had asked the Punjab state government for assurance of the farmers' safety, without which trains would not be allowed to operate.  

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'Delhi Chalo'

The decision to end the 'Rail Roko Andolan' comes amid the farmers' bodies call to march towards Delhi and protest in the national capital. As per PTI, farm leader Ruldu Singh has stated that 'lakhs of farmers' will go to Delhi on tractors to take part in a protest on November 26 and 27. The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a body of more than 200 farmer organisations across the country has also issued a 'Delhi Chalo' call. 

The farmers' protest continues even as they met with the Centre at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi last week to discuss the contentious farm laws. Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar represented Centre and had hoped to 'clear doubts' of the farmers before the festive season. 

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What are the three farm bills?

During the monsoon session of the Parliament which was held amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had passed three farm bills aimed at reforms in the agriculture sector amid severe Opposition. The bills introduced have also received the President's assent. These bills included amending the Essential Commodities act to enable better price realisation for farmers by attracting investments - making agriculture sector competitive.  Agriculture foodstuff including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato to be deregulated while stock limits were to imposed under extreme conditions. Under the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm services ordinance, 2020, it provided a framework for the protection and empowerment of farmers with reference to the sale and purchase of farm products overriding all state APMC laws.

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