Members of the United Kisan Morcha (Non Political) outside the head office of the Punjab State Power Corporation (PSPCL) in Ludhiana. Protest And the indefinite hunger strike of some farmer leaders continues. On Monday, over 800 employees working at the head office were not allowed to enter the premises, with most opting to work either from home or from other sub-offices in Patiala.
The protest started on June 8
The protest dharna outside the PSPCL office was started in the morning on June 8, after which in the afternoon the farmer leaders locked the gate and pitched tents and sat in front of them. Five farmer union leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Bhojraj Singh, Kulwinder Singh Panjola and Tarsem Singh Gill, began a hunger strike a day later simultaneously with several demands, including electricity connections for farmers. Commercial charges on electricity connections taken for ancillary businesses and permanent solution to the problem of stray cattle, among other things.
Farmers made 27 employees of PSPCL and SBI hostage
After the picketing started on Thursday, 27 employees of PSPCL and SBI, including 11 women, were held hostage till late Thursday night by the farmers protesting outside the main gate of the PSPCL office. After the intervention of the police, the employees were allowed to leave at 11.50 pm. On Friday morning, the protesting farmers did not allow any PSPCL employee to enter the premises. The Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of PSPCL, Directors of PSPCL and Punjab State Power Transmission Limited (PSTCL), several Chief Engineers etc. work from these premises. The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) branch of the State Bank of India also operates from inside the complex.
Employees were not allowed inside the premises even on Monday
Ranbir Singh, an employee of PSPCL said, “Since Thursday afternoon, the lock outside the PSPCL office has not been opened. Neither on Friday nor on Monday were we allowed inside the campus. We are working from home or other branch offices,” he said, adding that he was briefly held hostage on Thursday before being rescued by the police late at night.
CMD himself should come and tell us why our demands were not accepted – Farmer
On Monday, SKM (non-political) members also took out a protest march in Patiala and burnt the effigy of PSPCL Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) Baldev Singh Saran. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal later said, ‘Last year in May, the CMD of PSPCL had agreed to our demands. But none of them has been implemented till date. We want the CMD himself to come and tell us why our demands were not accepted. Our protest will continue.” Later in the evening, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal addressed a gathering at the protest site and said that all the protesters together have decided to go on a hunger strike from Monday, consuming nothing but tea and water, until Their demands are not fulfilled. met up with.
We are ready to go to jail, but we will not end the hunger strike until our demands are met. The government can use the police and try to remove us from the spot, but we will not budge, we will not end our dharna. He said that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is troubling the public in the name of change. “He [मान] Goes on television programs where he says he is running the government after consulting the public and then he refuses to listen to us. On Thursday, the government deliberately asked some employees to stay inside the campus so that they could later allege that we had taken some people hostage. ,