Updated: December 11, 2020 8:20:17 am
(left) The two washers clean more than 500 items a day; a mini gurdwara on the Singhu border. (Photo: Amit Mehra)
A dental camp, medicine stalls, libraries, laundry services and a small temple: Farmers have made various arrangements at the borders to continue their protest amid harsh weather conditions, after rejecting the government’s proposals on Tuesday.
At the Singhu border, Prince Sandhu (30), a farmer from Ludhiana, bought two washing machines for the protesters, especially the elderly. “We have been here for more than a week. It’s cold and we don’t have a lot of clothes. I saw a lot of old people doing laundry on the sidewalk, so I went back home and bought two machines. We have placed them on the sidewalk for everyone to use. Many people come here and give away their clothes. The machines also have a good dryer so that farmers don’t have to wait long for their clothes to dry, ”said Sandhu, who, together with his friend Amanpreet (27), washes more than 500 garments a day.
Amanpreet said the machines are powered by batteries and generators from cars and trucks.
Several farmers on the border said they are unhappy with the government’s proposal and have planned to stay there for at least six months. Now they are offering “sewa” to help other farmers.
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A group of them have installed solar panels in their trucks to charge phones and light bulbs. Gurpinder Singh (40), who brought two solar panels from Karnal in Haryana, said: “We mainly use the electricity generated to charge the bulbs because the langar service runs late into the night. My friends also charge their phones with solar panels. “
The langar also has a roti maker, brought in from a gurdwara in Haryana, which produces more than 1,000 rotis in an hour. The farmers put dumplings into the machine and the fresh rotis come out in 5-10 minutes. Farmers said it runs on batteries stored in trucks or charged by solar panels.
The site also has more than 10 medical camps and medical tents. A dental camp operates from inside a bus, which also has an X-ray machine and other medical equipment. Dr. Sunny Ahluwalia of Mohali, who runs the camp with two of his students, said they have been performing teeth retraction and scaling on more than 100 people a day, as well as offering free dental check-ups and other services like fillings and cleaning. teeth.
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Several students from Punjab and Haryana have also joined the protest to support their families and help other farmers. Among them is Jasveer Singh (29), who has opened a small library with more than 500 books on religion, spirituality, fiction and Indian law.
“I don’t want people to stay here and do nothing. I get 80-90 readers every day … we want people to learn and grow. This exercise will also help them to better understand the situation and their rights, ”said Jasveet, who is a UP Fatehgarh researcher and studies gender rights.
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Meanwhile, at lunchtime, the place plays with music played on speakers and a harmonium.
In Tikri, a farmer from Badda village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district handed over a washing machine to protesters, while residents of Jabta Khera village collected Rs 80,000 for the store’s material, including 40 mattresses, which they handed over to farmers.
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