The farmers’ unions have decided to honour local people who helped the protesters at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders, alleviating their many hardships during the yearlong agitation.

Farmer leaders said local people had offered “immense help” in various ways, such as providing electricity and water connections from their homes, and it was time the farmers showed their gratitude.

“We have formed a committee to make a list of such local people so that we can honour them,” said Shiv Kumar Kakka, a member of the empowered committee of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded the protest.

“Before we go home (on Saturday), a ceremony will be held at the Singhu border tomorrow to honour them. We will garland them and present them with shawls and sweets.”

Farmers hug each other at the Ghazipur border on Friday. PTI Photo

Morcha member Sudesh Goyat too said at the Tikri border that a ceremony had been planned near the KMP Peripheral Expressway to honour residents who had helped the protesting farmers.

“We will apply tilak on their foreheads and present them with sweets and shawls on Saturday,” he said.

Kakka said some residents and traders had become good friends with the farmers and that the bond would endure.

He said the Morcha used to hold all its important meetings at the Kajaria Tiles showroom at the Singhu border, with the owner offering the entire space to the farmers.

“So, we all became good friends. We can never forget this gesture,” Kakka said.

A Tricolour kite hangs at the Ghazipur border near New Delhi on Friday following the decision to withdraw the farmers’ sit-in. PTI Photo

He added that local people had provided the agitators with water, electricity, shelter and places for holding meetings, among other things.

“So we have decided to thank and honour them,” he said.

Goyat said: “When the government disconnected our electricity and water supply, local people gave us electricity and water from their homes. They helped us in every way and that’s how we won the battle.”

He added: “Now it’s time to show our gratitude. We will honour the people of the villages and towns near the Tikri border before going home.”

A leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan) said farmer leaders were visiting villages near the Tikri border protest site to thank those who had supported the agitation. “We cannot forget the contribution of residents of the villages and towns located around the protest sites,” the farmer leader said.