Punjab MPs hold talks with federal govt to resume train services

According to sources, a meeting of Punjab MPs and Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to be held on Saturday. There have been a total of five separate meetings on the issue of trains in Punjab, in which the BJP leaders, MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from Punjab participated.

New Delhi:With railways being non-operational in Punjab owing to the Farm bill protests, there has been a contentious stance between the Central and government.

Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh had on Wednesday staged a sit-in protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar demanding an audience with the President in order to make him aware of the difficulties the state is facing due to the situations.

According to sources, a meeting of Punjab MPs and Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to be held on Saturday, the time of which is not yet fixed, but before that, a round of meetings was held on Friday.

The first meeting of the Lok Sabha MPs of Punjab was held at the house of MP Parneet Kaur from Patiala, in which Manish Tiwari, Amar Singh, Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Gurjit Aujla were in attendance.

Following the meeting, another meeting was held late in the evening at the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal's house where Parneet Kaur, Amar Singh and Manish Tiwari were present too. After this meeting which lasted for about 2 hours, the MPs of Punjab were seen evading media but according to sources, the MPs are making every effort to start functioning of trains in the state as quickly as possible.

In yet another meeting with Goyal that same day, the Lok Sabha MPs walked out of the discussion and accused the Central Government of refusing to start trains in Punjab due to the state's resistance to the farm bills.

However, it was clarified by the ministry that if the Punjab government removes protesters from the rail tracks, trains will be started.

Since even after the meeting the consensus could not be reached, the issue remained unsolved.

In the last two days, there have been a total of five separate meetings on the issue of trains in Punjab, in which the BJP leaders, MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from Punjab participated.

Due to no trains, coal and fertilizer are not able to reach Punjab creating a shortage of electricity and fertilizer, necessary for the state for farming.