A delegation of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) met Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian in Bathinda on Friday and discussed various demands of farmers and farm workers. The meeting lasted for nearly one-and-a-half hours at the Agriculture Department’s office.The delegation was led by BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) state president Joginder Singh Ugrahan, senior vice-president Jhanda Singh Jethuke and state secretary Shingara Singh Mann.The union activists later claimed that the minister did not give any “concrete positive response” to their demands.They urged farmers and farm labourers to intensify preparations for the proposed October 5 protests outside Deputy Commissioner offices and demonstrations against the Chief Minister.The union demanded that the government issue a white paper on water flowing into Pakistan through the Ravi and its tributaries and make budgetary provisions for conserving the water. It also sought withdrawal of the land pooling policy, ownership rights for cultivators, farm workers and settlers, and an end to drone surveys of fields.Their other demands included immediate compensation for losses caused by floods and other natural calamities, debt waiver for farmers and workers, compensation and jobs for families of suicide victims, and withdrawal of cases registered during agitations and against stubble burning.The union also sought a meeting with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to resolve demands falling outside the minister’s jurisdiction.