Testing, vax camps for protesting farmers

Gurgaon: Camps for Covid-19

testing

and vaccination will be set up at the farmer protest sites in Haryana.

After a month of persuasion, farmers who have been protesting against the three new central laws at Shahjahanpur border and Atoha in Palwal have agreed to get themselves tested. Those eligible for the vaccines have also agreed to take the shot. A senior health department official said, “We had met the farmers in March to motivate them, but they refused to get tested or vaccinated. We can now hold camps for vaccination and RT-PCR test at the

protest site

.”

The umbrella body of agitating farmer unions, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), said it will allow the health department to organise testing and

vaccination camps

. It has also urged protesting farmers protesting to wear masks and follow protocols to stop the spread of the virus.

Haryana health minister Anil Vij has directed deputy commissioners of the districts where the protests are taking place to start making arrangements for testing and vaccinations. Thousands of farmers from Rajasthan have been camping at Shahjahanpur border and local farmers have been protesting at Atoha in Palwal for over three months now against the farm laws.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni said, “With the health department’s help, vaccination camps will be started at protest sites and mask awareness and compliance will be encouraged. Separate medical camps will be equipped to handle and provide care to any person showing symptoms,” he said. Mahender Singh Chauhan, a farmer leader at Palwal, added, “We request the government to fulfil its responsibility by starting vaccination centres and providing necessary facilities at protest sites.”


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