Refrain from farm protests amid corona: Punjab government

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered an inquiry into a letter issued by a BDPO regarding the protests by farmers allegedly organised by the state government and his transfer to the headquarters.

The government has not organised any such protest, as claimed by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), said a government spokesperson.

Far from organising any protests by farmers, the government was in fact appealing to all political organisations to refrain from holding public gatherings in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

The overzealous BDPO had, on his own, announced a protest dharna on September 21 and issued a letter to ask all Panchayat Secretaries in his block to intimate all sarpanches about it.

He had also wrongly claimed that Ministers and MLAs will join in these protests, said the spokesperson, rejecting any such plans by the state government.

The state had neither planned such protests against the farm ordinances nor asked the BDPO to issue the letter in question, said the spokesperson, adding that the Chief Minister had asked officials to inquire and pin the responsibility on officials for this incorrect communication.