(MENAFN- Live Mint) Farmers' protests across the state affected traffic on key routes in Punjab, including the Patiala-Chandigarh National Highway, on Monday. The state-wide shutdown will remain in effect from 7 am to 4 pm on December 30 and 31.
Emergency services will remain unaffected due to the Punjab Bandh, as protestors have been asked not to prevent medical services from operating and other people travelling to the airport for a flight or for tasks like job interviews, said farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Sunday.
"The bandh will be observed from 7 am to 4 pm. However, emergency services will remain operational. Anyone travelling to the airport to catch a flight or anyone going to attend a job interview, or anyone needs to attend a wedding... all these things have been kept out of our bandh call," PTI quoted Singh.
Punjab Bandh: Areas where traffic has been affected
Due to Punjab Bandh, traffic is likely to be hindered in Amritsar, Chandigarh, other cities. Protests affected traffic at the Patiala-Chandigarh National Highway by carrying out a sit-in protest at sit-in at Dhareri Jattan Toll Plaza
A call for a shutdown was given last week by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha over the Centre not accepting the demands of protesting farmers.
At Amritsar's Golden Gate, farmers started to assemble near the city's entry point while in Bathinda's Rampura Phul, they blocked roads.
Why are farmers protesting in Punjab?
Farmers continue to protest for their long-pending demand to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. They have been protesting over the same over the past few years. Hundreds of farmers have been protesting at the Punjab-Haryana border, demanding a legal guarantee of a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
One of the protestors, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, has been on a hunger strike for the last month, demanding a legal guarantee of MSP.
Seventy-year-old Jagjit has so far refused to take a medical treatment and had earlier said that he would not break his fast until the government agreed to the farmers' demands.
Apex Court's intervention
The Supreme Court has allowed the Punjab government till December 31 to convince Dallewal to shift to a hospital. The government also has the liberty to seek logistical support from the Centre if necessary.
Farmers, under the banner of SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Besides MSP, the farmers have also been demanding a debt waiver, pension, no hike in electricity tariffs, and justice for the protestors who died in 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
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