Khanauri: A team of medics from Patiala accompanied by police arrived at the Khanauri Border to examine the parameters of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal whose hunger strike completed 50 days on Tuesday. Dallewal is still critical and the prolonged fast has turned him boney.
The Supreme Court will hear his case on Wednesday and the Punjab government has set up a makeshift hospital 700 metres from the protest site.
After examining him the team informed Dallewal's health sharply deteriorated on Monday with a sudden drop in his blood pressure followed by a sense of nausea.
On January 13, a meeting of farmer leaders was held in Patiala to strategies the future course of action and the next meet has been scheduled on January 18 to deliberate on the nationwide tractor march on Republic Day.
Born on October 4, 1957, Dallewal received elementary education from the government primary school in Golwala village and further studies from Golewala Government High School. Subsequently, he attended the Government Barjindra College in Faridkot and obtained higher education from Punjabi University. He holds an MA and an LLB in Science.
On January 6, the septuagenarian farmer leader met the apex court-appointed panel after the Punjab government said the protesting farmers were persuaded to meet Justice (retd) Nawab Singh, who chairs the committee. Dallewal, who is the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM non-political), began his indefinite hunger strike on November 26, 2024.
He refused medical aid offered by the state government and his health condition deteriorated recently. Farmers, under the banners of SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
On December 20 last year, the apex court put the onus on Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on his hospitalisation, saying Dallewal could be moved to the makeshift hospital set up within 700 metres of the protest site at Khanauri border.
In September 2024, the apex court formed the committee with the aim of amicably resolving the grievances of the protesting farmers. In its initial report, the panel flagged various reasons for agrarian distress including stagnant yield, rising costs, debts and inadequate marketing system.
Aside from Justice (retd) Singh, the committee comprises retired IPS officer B S Sandhu, agriculture expert Devinder Sharma, professor Ranjit Singh Ghuman and Dr Sukhpal Singh, an agricultural economist from the Punjab Agricultural University.
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