Chandigarh: Farmers in Punjab on Monday held a statewide protest against the Centre over the issues of ordinances related to the agriculture sector and rising fuel prices.
The protesting growers, owing allegiance to different farmers' outfits, parked their tractors on the side of the roads for two-three hours as a mark of protest against what they described as "anti-farmers" policies.
The farmers said that they took all precautions and followed all safety norms including wearing marks and maintaining physical distance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) and BKU (Rajewal) factions and some other outfits held agitation.
The protests came despite Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's appeal to farmers' outfits to postpone them because of the restrictions in place to check the spread of novel coronavirus.
Read:|Punjab CM urges farmers' unions to postpone protests
Farmers are against the three ordinances: the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, which the Centre had promulgated.
"We followed all guidelines related to coronavirus. Farmers wore masks and physical distance was also maintained during the protest, said BKU (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal.
He said that farmers took out their tractors and parked them on the side of Samrala-Ludhiana road. There was no disruption of traffic, he added.
BKU (Rajewal) faction also similarly held the protest.