Chandigarh, 13 October (H.S.): A high-level meeting between the Punjab Government’s Group of Ministers and representatives of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), led by Joginder Singh Ugrahan, was held on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues concerning farmers.

The Group of Ministers, deputed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, comprised Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian. Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Anurag Verma, along with senior officers from concerned departments, also attended the meeting.

Speaking after the discussions, Cheema said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and that consensus had emerged on several important issues raised in the union’s memorandum.

He said mutually agreed timelines ranging from one to two months had been set for resolving a number of accepted local-level demands in a systematic manner.

On FIRs registered against farmers during previous agitations, Cheema said many cases had already been cancelled by the state government. He added that around 13 to 16 cases were still pending before different courts and the government had worked out a stage-wise legal process to facilitate their withdrawal.

Responding to the demand for a dedicated budgetary provision for crop-loss compensation, the Finance Minister said the state government had already earmarked ₹750 crore and the compensation disbursal process for affected farmers was underway.

The meeting also discussed compensation for tenant farmers and the issue of cultivators who have been farming land for decades without formal ownership rights. According to the government, these matters were considered sympathetically during the deliberations.

Cheema further said agrarian issues pending with the Centre would be raised in the forthcoming session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He reiterated the state government’s opposition to what it considers policies detrimental to Punjab’s agricultural interests and referred to earlier Assembly resolutions concerning international agricultural trade agreements and the Electricity Bill.

The ministers assured the union that the government would continue to pursue farmers’ concerns through legislative, administrative and legal channels.

BKU leaders Jhanda Singh Jethuke, Shingara Singh Mann, Jagtar Singh Kalajhar, Janak Singh Bhutal, Roop Singh Sanna, Harwinder Kaur Bindu, Kamaljit Kaur and Kuldeep Kaur were among those present.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH