Entire country needs MSP, send message to Centre Punjab is not lone fighter: Dallewal
Chandigarh, Jan 4: Fasting Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Saturday appealed to farmer outfits in other states to fight the agitation seeking legal guarantee to MSP strongly in their states to send a message to the Centre that it is not Punjab's fight alone.
During his over 11-minute address at the "Kisan Mahapanchayat" at Khanauri, Dallewal tried to send across a message that his life was not more important than farmers.
Seven lakh farmers have committed suicides in the country and he knows what their families have to go through, Dallewal said at the mahapanchayat called by the two forums which is spearheading the ongoing agitation.
The 70-year-old farmer leader was brought out in a stretcher and addressed the gathering of farmers while lying on a bed from a stage at the protest site
He referred to farmers’ demands, including the MSP guarantee, indicating that he understands the enormity of the task at hand but that does not mean one will sit and do nothing.
Dallewal, who is convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), has so far refused to take any medical aid despite his prolonged fasting which completed 40 days on Saturday, which has caused his health to deteriorate.
During the past few days, Dallewal had made an address to the farmers via short video messages, but this was his first public appearance after several days when he began his fast on November 26.
Dallewal, whose outfit was earlier part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) during its agitation against now repealed farm laws, said, "When we returned from Delhi (borders after the 2020-21 stir), farmer leaders from other states had said Punjab is going back after the repeal of three laws.... We had told them Punjab cannot betray anyone."
"Now, Punjab is at the forefront again. I request organisations of other states with folded hands to fight agitation strongly in their states and send a message to the central government that this agitation is not of Punjab alone but of the entire country,” he said.
“The entire country needs MSP," said Dallewal, who in between took sips of water and told doctors standing nearby to allow him to complete his speech and not worry about his blood pressure.
He told the gathering, "The way you have come today in numbers. Now, from every village one trolley should reach Khanauri to strengthen this Morcha".
"The battle which I am fighting, it is not me who is fighting. It is being said Dallewal is fighting... It is God's will. The way God wants one to do, we have to do accordingly," he said.
During his brief address, Dallewal said, "The night we got information that police can evict us, the same night scores of youths reached Khanauri from Punjab and Haryana and took charge of the morcha...".
The Punjab government recently made it clear that it had no intention to forcibly evict Dallewal from the present agitation site.
"I have faith that we will win the Morcha. The government may try to use as much force, but they cannot defeat the morcha," he said.
Then going into the enormity of the task at hand in fighting the farmers' battle for MSP guarantee and other demands, Dallewal said, "It is not that I don't understand this.... I have studied, and I know it is difficult. But seeing the difficulty or enormity of the task if we sit doing nothing, then how will things work".
See how much loss we suffered, he said, referring to farmer suicides.
"Seven lakh farmers have committed suicide in the country. If we sit and think it is a difficult task, it will not be achieved, should we let them die. We are farmer leaders, many of our colleagues are farmer leaders," he said.
Dallewal said he does not even care about his life, but the battle has to be fought so that no farmer suicides happen again.
"The Supreme Court recently said that Dallewal's life is important. I had said that day hon'ble Supreme Court I am also human, alright, but what about families of those 7 lakh farmers who have committed suicide. We have to stop suicides in future," he said.
Dallewal thanked the farmers who came for the "Kisan Mahapanchayat" from far off places and said despite doctors not permitting, it was his desire to meet them all.
With three women activists of a farmer organisation killed and many injured in a bus accident in Punjab's Barnala when they were headed to Haryana's Tohana, Dallewal said he has learnt about this and another accident and expressed his deep condolences.
The farmers, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Farmer leaders had earlier said Dallewal had not eaten anything during his fast and was surviving only on water.
Dallewal, the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur), hails from Dallewal village in Punjab's Faridkot district.
Before announcing his fast-unto-death, Dallewal transferred his properties to his son, daughter-in-law and grandson. His wife died in January last year.
Dallewal's BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) was part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded a farmers' stir in 2020 against three contentious agriculture laws of the Centre that have since been repealed. But it broke away after SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal formed the Samyukta Samaj Morcha to contest the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls.
Dallewal later formed the SKM (Non-Political) by involving like-minded farmer leaders.
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Air India resorts to cost-cutting ways amid 'tough times'; layoffs not anticipated
New Delhi/Mumbai (PTI): Hit hard by Pakistan airspace closure and Iran war, Air India has resorted to cost-cutting measures, including holding back annual increments for staff and asking them to cut discretionary spending as well as non-critical expenditures, warning of "tough times".
On Friday, Air India Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director (CEO & MD) Campbell Wilson told the staff it is going to be a "very, very difficult year" if things don't improve on the Middle East front.
A day after the loss-making airline's board discussed various cost-saving steps, Wilson, along with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sanjay Sharma and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Ravindra Kumar GP, addressed the employees during a townhall on Friday where the emphasis on the need to keep a close watch on costs.
With higher jet fuel prices due to the West Asia conflict and airspace curbs, the loss-making airline's expenses have spiralled in recent times and against this backdrop, Sharma also told staffers that FY26 has seen a softening in revenue amid heightened external uncertainties.
Calling for a relentless focus on costs in these tough times, Wilson urged employees to suspend discretionary spending, renegotiate rates where feasible, and defer non-critical expenditures.
"There must be a laser-sharp focus on eliminating wastage and leakages," he said.
Stressing the need to tighten the belt for a while, Wilson sounded optimistic that travel demand would rebound and the industry would continue on its upward path.
CHRO Ravindra Kumar told staff that the airline will proceed with variable pay for the last financial year and continue with planned promotions while noting that annual increments will be deferred by at least one quarter.
"We don't anticipate layoffs," he said.
At the airline's board meeting on Thursday, various cost-saving steps, including likely furloughs, were discussed. The Tata Group-owned airline has around 24,000 employees.
Generally, furlough refers to sending staff on unpaid leaves by companies during a tough financial situation.
During the townhall, CFO Sanjay Sharma said while strong revenue growth and fleet expansion drove financial momentum through FY25, FY26 has seen a softening in revenue amid heightened external uncertainties.
Air India has seen around 40 per cent CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) in revenue between 2022 and 2025, he added.
The airline was acquired by the Tata Group from the government in January 2022.
The Air India CEO mentioned the external challenges being facing the aviation industry as a whole, including the continued closure of Pakistan airspace that is expected to persist for the foreseeable future and geopolitical conflicts leading to disruptions and airspace closures across West Asia.
Wilson, who is set to step down later this year, also flagged a sharp depreciation of the rupee and a 2.5-3 times increase in jet fuel prices, and added that these factors have adversely affected travel sentiment and consumer confidence, as per the sources.
If the Strait of Hormuz opens, oil prices fall and consumer as well as business confidence come back, there is a decent chance of a solid recovery, Wilson said, adding that unless those circumstances happen, it was going to be "a very, very difficult year".
"I feel somewhat responsible that we ended up with probably the biggest surprise of the year in the external environment which was a full-scale war in our neighbouring region in the Gulf. That has had a huge impact on airspace," he said.
For Air India, Wilson said the situation is compounded by the fact that the airline cannot fly over the neighbouring country and has to take a much longer routing for any west-bound destination.
"Every airline is reporting that they are under some sort of financial pressure as a result of higher fuel prices and economic uncertainty. So, it is unfortunately not a great environment to be running an airline," the Air India CEO said.
The Air India Group -- Air India and Air India Express -- is projected to have incurred more than Rs 22,000 crore loss in the financial year ended March 2026.
At the townhall, Wilson also highlighted various initiatives, including completion of the retrofit of its legacy narrow-body aircraft and rapid network optimisation to redeploy capacity more efficiently.
