Haryana govt must provide jobs to kin of deceased farmers, withdraw criminal cases: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has congratulated the farmers’ community on the victory of their movement which lasted for more than a year. He reiterated that this was the victory of the farmers' long struggle and Satyagraha.

“I have never seen such a long and disciplined movement in my life. For more than a year, farmers had to spend day and night on roadside dharnas at various places in Haryana including the Delhi border in cold, heat, rain, storm and harsh conditions. Moreover, there was a lot of torture and humiliation by those in power, including the use of lathis, tear gas cannons, cold water cannons, iron nails, trenches and yet the farmers did not leave the path of peace, truth and non-violence,” said Hooda.

“The farmers who stood on the path of Satyagraha finally won and today there is an atmosphere of happiness in the whole country on this victory. I am myself happy that the farmers are returning to their villages and home and farmers returning from various dharnas are being warmly welcomed everywhere,” he added.

The Leader of Opposition in Haryana said now that the agitation has ended, the government should withdraw all the cases registered against the agitators without delay, as promised. Also, the families of the martyred farmers should be given proper financial help and government jobs. Not only this, but immediate steps should also be taken regarding the demand like pending MSP guarantee of the farmers, Hooda said.

“Agriculture has to be made a profitable enterprise for farmers and the government should make such policies in future so that the ‘Annadata’ does not have to agitate again by taking to the streets. The food producers of the country suffered during the farmers' movement in the last one year and this should not be repeated,” he stated.

Hooda also asked Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to provide jobs to the kin of families of the farmers who lost their lives and withdrawal of criminal cases registered against farmers during the yearlong agitation against the three central farm laws.

He urged the Union government to initiate talks with farmers without any delay to provide legal status to Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime to the crops. This has been their other main demand, he pointed out.