Hoshiarpur (Punjab)/IBNS: Agitating farmers, under the banner of various organisations, Tuesday began a three-day sit-in protest and compelled the authorities at two toll plazas on the Jalandhar-Jammu NH to allow vehicles to pass without paying the toll.

The sit-in began after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the protest, turned down the Union government's proposal for a five-year contract on the purchase of maize, cotton, and three types of pulses at the existing minimum support prices (MSP).

The farmers gathered at Cholang and Harse Mansar toll plazas around 10 am and began the sit-in, raising slogans against the Union government, and demanding justice.

Addressing the gathering, the leaders emphasised that farmers were demanding a legal guarantee concerning the MSP for 23 crops nationwide.

However, the union government has proposed a five-year contract with cooperative societies to procure some crops at MSP, limited to Punjab and Haryana.

The farmers' charter of demands includes a legal guarantee for MSP for their crops, a loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pensions for farmers and agricultural labourers, and withdrawal of police cases.

[With UNI inputs]