Talks between the Punjab Government and a farmer organisation on Thursday remained derailed. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) has made clear its intent to continue with the rail blockade after claiming that the same was on a track leading to the two private thermal plants, and the Centre’s decision to stop goods trains to Punjab was uncalled for.
The farm body, which is the largest farmer union, has completely refused to lift their blockade on the “service railway tracks” leading to the two of the three private thermal plants — at Mansa and Rajpura — “which are owned by the big corporate houses”. Thereby, the Centre may not allow movement of goods trains in the state as of now.
Notably, the Centre, after stopping the movement of goods trains in Punjab, had asked the State Government to get all the railway tracks vacated from the protesting farmers to resume the service.
The suspension of goods trains, during the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws, has affected the coal supply for thermal plants in Punjab, besides hitting the state’s industrial sector which is facing the scarcity of raw materials.
The goods train services had earlier resumed in the State on October 21 after the farmers’ unions had announced exempting them from their ongoing ‘rail roko’ agitation over the Centre's new farm laws.
A day after, the railways started running the goods trains. However, it again decided to suspend the service on October 23 after some farmers had allegedly blocked their movement at some places. On October 26, the suspension in Punjab was extended up to October 29.
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had talked to the Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal seeking his personal intervention to resume the services. In turn, the Union Minister asked Punjab Government to vacate all tracks, besides seeking its assurance for the safety of trains and crew members to restore freight services.
Currently, only BKU Ugrahan has been holding protests on tracks, while all other 30 farmer unions have already stopped this agitation and decided to take their protest to Delhi under “Delhi Chalo” slogan.
The State Government on Thursday held a meeting with the protesting farm body to resolve the matter. The government’s three-member panel of the Cabinet Ministers — Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, met with the representatives of the BKU Ugrahan persuading them to lift their blockade from the tracks.
Randhawa said: “We had a meeting in a cordial atmosphere. We have told them regarding the shortage of urea, DAP, and other things and appealed them to vacate the tracks. They told us that they were not blocking any main line, but the private tracks of the two thermal plants. And when we checked that was right. They assured us that they had neither nor they will stop any railway main track.”
BKU Ugrahan president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, after the meeting, categorically refused to lift the blockade. “The Centre is trying to pressurize Punjab Government. Their reason to stop goods trains is without any logic. We are not sitting on the main railway lines. We had cleared these lines earlier and goods trains’ service can resume,” he said.
Ugrahan said that the farm body representatives are agitating only on the service tracks that bring coal from the main railway tracks to the private thermal plants, owned by big corporate houses. “We will not lift the blockades here. The State Government should run its own plants and give jobs to people in need. The Centre is just trying to target Punjab because of the protests,” he said.
With the ‘off-track’ rail services, the state’s industry is suffering huge losses as their goods cannot be sent to their customers outside the state, nor can they get the raw material for manufacturing goods, as most shipments are sent through trains.
It has been learnt that around 10,000 containers for imports and exports have been stuck at various dry ports due to suspension of goods trains.
At the same time, the state’s thermal plants — both private and the government-owned — are left with minimal stocks and in dire need of coal to run the plants.
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) chairman-cum-managing director A Venu Prasad Coal informed that the coal supply to the state has been closed since past one month and only two-three rakes have reached at some plants on October 23 only. “Two out of five thermal plants in the state are completely closed, while remaining has the minimal capacity kept in reserve in case of the emergency situation,” he added. He said that against the demand for 6,000 MW, the state is managing 5,000 MW from central hydro and biomass plants, leading to a shortage of 1,000 MW.
