After the success of ‘Kisan Mall’ at the Tikri border, international NGO Khalsa Aid opened its second one at the Singhu border on Sunday.
The ‘mall’ opened right behind the Khalsa Aid counter at the protest site saw farmers queuing up for their turn through a small entrance after showing their token on Monday.
Volunteer Kulvir Singh said the mall at the Tikri border was essentially a dry run to open the one at Singhu. “There is more crowd here and we needed to understand the hurdles we would face and the overall response for it. The reaction to the mall was absolutely unexpected and we opened this,” he said.
Mr. Singh explained that at Tikri they faced chaos because of initial mismanagement and long queues. Therefore, they changed the plan here. “At Tikri, we were handing out the tokens right outside the mall but here, we gave out tokens a night before,” he said.
Every night, Khalsa Aid volunteers visit trolleys and give tokens to the farmers to ensure that only they would benefit from this initiative. On Saturday night, about 350 tokens were handed out and on Sunday night, the number doubled to 700. “The problem with open system was that those who were not even in need took things. Also, this is a dignified way of getting essentials,” he said.
According to Mr. Singh, the farmers are “so nice” that they are only taking what they need and not hoarding.
Credential check
At the entrance, the farmers need to give their tokens after which they’re given a slip to fill their name, mobile number, Aadhaar number and tick mark the things they need from the listed items. They’re allowed entry only after this process.
Inside the ‘mall’, items including toothbrush, paste, bath soap, washing soap, slippers, oil, shampoo, thermals, vests, under garments, heating pads and garbage box among other thing are stacked.
Talking about their experience, Bhuta Singh from Gurdaspur said he doesn’t mind standing in the queue because only farmers stand to benefit from this. “The problem with open ones is that they work on first come first serve basis, without any check,” he said.
Another protester who identified himself as Gursevak Singh said that not all of them were given tokens. People at the rear end of the protest haven’t been given yet, he said.
