POSTED ON JUNE 20, 2021

Alleged incident took place when farmers and farm labourers were called to resolve a tussle over fixing of wages for paddy sowing

 Bathinda, The National Commission for Schedules Castes (NCSC) has issued notices to the Punjab government and the Mansa district administration in connection with case of alleged thrashing of a Dalit woman farm labourer in the district over demand of wage for paddy transplantation.

According to information, Gurpreet Kaur was allegedly beaten up by an upper-caste landowner at Matti village of Mansa district on June 15.

The alleged incident took place when sarpanch Sukhwinder Kaur had invited a meeting of farmers and farm labourers to resolve an ongoing village-level tussle over fixing of wages for paddy sowing.

The Matti panchayat had unofficially resolved not to pay more than ₹2,900 per acre whereas the local farmhands were demanding ₹3,500 per acre for sowing, it is learnt.

After the incident, activists of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, an affiliate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, held a protest at the village on Thursday.

In its communiqué, the NCSC has asked the chief secretary, the director general of police, the Mansa deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) to submit an action taken report within seven days.

Courtesy : HT