Members of the farmer organisation are set to march from Noida and Greater Noida towards Delhi on Monday. The march was announced by Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (BKP) leader Sukhbir Khalifa on Sunday, who said that the farmers are demanding compensation and benefits under the new agricultural laws.
Additionally, farmer organisations, including the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM, non-political), have also planned marches towards Delhi on foot beginning December 6.
“We are ready for our march towards Delhi. Tomorrow, December 2, we will start our march towards Delhi from under the Maha Maya flyover (In Noida). At noon, all of us will reach there and demand our compensation and benefits as per the new laws,” Sukhbir Khalifa told news agency ANI on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyan Singh Rana slammed the upcoming farmer’s march to Delhi, arguing that they lack legitimate issues.
Speaking to ANI in Karnal, Rana said, “They have no issues. The previous farmers’ agitation had an issue- the three farm laws. Those three laws were later repealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The farmers’ agitation has caused losses to Punjab.”
“Rice miller industries from Punjab moved to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. We will not let anyone play with the law and order situation in Haryana. They should talk to their chief minister and sort out their problems,” he added.
Earlier, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) General Secretary Sarwan Singh Pandhair informed that the farmers protesting at the Shambhu border (Punjab-Haryana border) will also march towards Delhi on December 6 to press their demands, including a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP).
On October 26, farmers gathered in large numbers from Badhrukha in Sangrur district to protest against the government and press on their multiple demands including timely paddy procurement.
The protests blocked national highways in the Phagwara, Sangrur, Moga, and Batala areas of Punjab.
Farmers under the banner of the SKM and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) 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 panel of three the then Union ministers — Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai — held talks with the farmer representatives on February 18.
The farmers had then rejected the Centre’s proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP by government agencies for five years.
Besides a legal guarantee on the MSP, the protesters had been demanding farm loan waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in the electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
(With inputs from PTI)
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