Chandigarh, Jan 1 (PTI) Punjab government on Wednesday continued with its efforts to persuade farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to take medical aid, with former additional DGP Jaskaran Singh saying discussions in this regard were also held with farmer leaders.

Over the past few days, a state government's team led by Jaskaran Singh has made several attempts to convince Dallewal, whose indefinite hunger strike completed 37 days today, to take medical help, but so far he has refused.

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Earlier, the apex court gave the Punjab government time until December 31 to persuade Dallewal to shift to a hospital, granting the state the liberty to seek logistical support from the Centre, if necessary.

On Tuesday, a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia took note of a plea moved by Punjab government seeking an additional three days to comply with SC's December 20 order.

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The top court had posted the matter on January 2 for the compliance of its order on shifting of Dallewal to a hospital.

The Punjab government had informed the vacation bench that Dallewal agreed for medical aid given the Centre accepted his proposal to hold talks.

On December 28, the top court came down heavily on the Punjab government for not moving Dallewal to a hospital even as it doubted the intention of the agitating farmers for resisting availability of medical aid to their septuagenarian leader.

On December 20, the apex court put the onus on Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on Dallewal's hospitalisation.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening after meeting Dallewal at the Khanauri border during the day, the retired Punjab Police officer Jaskaran Singh said, "we talked to him regarding his health. We had conducted his blood tests a few days back. We again appealed to him if he does not want to break his fast, at least he should take medical aid".

Jaskaran Singh also held two rounds of meetings with farmer leaders.

When asked if there could be a meeting between the government and the protesting farmers, Singh, was accompanied by Deputy Inspector General of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu, said, "when anything is finalised, we will tell".

He, however, said discussions with farmer leaders on Wednesday "were held in a positive atmosphere".

"We have held a few meetings earlier. Today, we held two meetings," he said.

Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said the discussion was in the perspective of overall agitation.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) leader Kaka Singh Kotra told reporters at Khanauri that "when the parliamentary committee has called for a legal guarantee to MSP, the Centre should accept that".

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP from Kheri, Utkarsh Verma and Punjabi singer Babbu Maan visited Khanauri on Wednesday to enquire about the fasting farmer leader Dallewal's health and to express their solidarity.

On Monday, Dallewal came out with a short video message, in which he said the Centre should pay attention to the farmers' demands, even as he had thanked the Punjabis for supporting and making the Punjab bandh, called by the two forums of protesting farmers, a success.

On Sunday, farmer leaders at Khanauri said they have been following the Gandhian way to continue their protest and it was up to the government to decide whether it wants to use force to evict their senior leader.

The farmers have been protesting at the Punjab-Haryana border to press the Centre for several demands, including a legal guarantee to a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Kaka Singh Kotra had recently said Dallewal has made it clear that he is ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of farmers in the country.

Farmers, under the banner of SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.

A "jatha" (group) of 101 farmers attempted to march to Delhi on foot three times between December 6 and 14 but were stopped by security personnel from Haryana.

In addition to a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers' demands include a debt waiver, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases, and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)