The preparations are complete for a sit-in protest scheduled from May 26 to 28, to be conducted by members of the Dehati Mazdur Sabha (Rural Workers’ Union) in front of the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner’s office. The union leaders stated that the demonstration aims to press for the demands of rural laborers. Darshan Nahar, state president of the Dehati Mazdoor Sabha; General Secretary Gurnam Singh Daud, Press Secretary Baldev Singh Nurpuri, and Finance Secretary Shamsher Singh Batala, while speaking to the media today, strongly criticized the biased stance of both the Central and State Governments toward the core demands of landless rural laborers, who, they asserted, are also being denied access to essential resources of production.

The key demands put forth by the leadership include: extending the implementation of MGNREGA

to both rural and urban areas, ensuring year-round employment for all adult members of every laborer household, and increasing the daily wage under the scheme to Rs 700. They also emphasized the need to reinforce the Public Distribution System to counter rising inflation, provide basic goods at subsidized rates via government depots, issue ration cards swiftly to the needy, and allot 10 marla residential plots along with a Rs 5 lakh housing grant to homeless families.

Additional demands include: raising monthly pensions for senior citizens, widows, persons with disabilities, and dependents to Rs 5,000 — while also reducing the eligibility age to 55 years for women and 58 for men; offering free, equitable, and quality education and healthcare services to all; filling all vacant government posts across departments, boards, and corporations; ensuring universal access to clean drinking water; curbing drug trafficking; and waiving debts of economically disadvantaged individuals.

The union leaders further insisted that surplus, barren, Najool, and Shamlat lands be allocated to the landless in accordance with the Land Ceiling Act, and that one-third of Panchayat-owned land be granted to Dalit families. They called on the state government to honor the commitments it made during the election campaigns. The leaders also informed that all arrangements had been finalized and that protestors would assemble at the site along with their families after conducting local meetings in urban and rural areas.

They warned that if the government continues to ignore the legitimate demands of the rural workforce, the union would have no option but to intensify the movement in the near future.