WILL TAKE CALL ON DROPPING CASES AGAINST FARMERS AS PER CENTRE, SAYS CM KHATTAR

CHANDIGARH: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said his government will take a call on the demand for the withdrawal of police cases against farmers according to what the Centre says after the issue of farm laws is settled.

Khattar said this responding to a query that Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar had said the withdrawal of cases against the farmers protesting the Centre’s farm laws is in the domain of state governments and they have to decide on it. “When this issue will reach finality, what the Centre says at that time, we will decide accordingly,” Khattar said during a presser.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 32 farmer unions spearheading the stir against the laws, have said they will continue their agitation until the Centre accepts their demand of a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) and withdrawal of cases against farmers, among others.

In Parliament’s winter session, a bill to repeal the three farm laws, against which thousands of farmers have been protesting for the past year, will be introduced by the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made the announcement regarding this last week. When asked that the farmers’ stir is still on, Khattar said it is for them to decide on it. Khattar also fielded questions on the alleged scam in recruiting dental surgeons in Haryana, in which the opposition has demanded an independent probe.

Detailing sequence of events which led the state Vigilance Bureau to arrest Haryana Public Service Commission’s Deputy Secretary Anil Nagar and some others, Khattar said the agency is conducting an in-depth probe.