Leading agricultural figures, who spearheaded the farmers’ demonstration in 2020–21, have disassociated themselves from the uproar this year. For the last three days, the non-political Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which was reorganised from the previous Samyukta Kisan Morcha, has been demonstrating throughout Punjab and Haryana in an effort to spark the Farmers’ Protest 2.0.
The ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was also demanded by the farmers’ associations. In contrast to the last upheaval, the following names are absent from SKM’s “Delhi Chalo” call this year:
- Yogender Yadav
- Joginder Singh Ugrahan
- Tikait, Rakesh
- Gurnam Singh The Chaduni
- Balbir Singh Rajinder
- Dr. Darshan Pal, Manjit Rai
- Kumar Shiv Kakka
- Singh, Dr. VM
Government-Farmer Discussions
There have been two fruitless efforts at communication between farmers and the administration amid the ongoing demonstrations.
Despite the government’s stated readiness to engage in negotiations with farmer associations, the two rounds of talks have yielded no clear results.
The following round of negotiations is now scheduled on Sunday, February 18.
AGREEABLE DEMANDS OF THE FARMERS
A minimum support price (MSP) for crops, loan waivers, the dismissal of lawsuits against the farmers, and changes to the Essential Commodities Act are among the requests being made by the farmers’ continuous protest.
Farmer leaders have, however, also made a number of additional requests, including the cancellation of the WTO agreement pertaining to farmers, the rejection of the power Amendment Bill 2020, the continuation of farmers’ exemption from environmental rules, and opposition to the installation of electronic power metres.
The government has been presented with the following demands by farmer organisations:
- Endorsing legislation ensuring MSP and offering MSP resources for all crops
- Releasing agricultural workers’ and farmers’ debts and giving them a 10,000 rupee monthly pension
- Removing the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 and guaranteeing 200 days of work under MGNREGA every year
- Giving government jobs and compensation to the families of farmers who were slain during the protest; raising the daily pay to Rs 700
- Ensuring that individuals accountable for the Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy get punished
- Passing legislation that punishes firms who manufacture counterfeit fertilisers and pesticides
- Rescinding the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and doing away with Punjabi farmers’ requirement to install electronic metres
- Establishing a National Spice Commission
- Avoiding following pollution laws on farmers
- Establishing agricultural prices in accordance with the Swaminathan Commission report’s recommendations
- Prohibiting free trade deals
According to reports, the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march is being attended by about 200 farmer associations. Still, even Punjabi small-scale farmer associations joined it.
Remarkably, there are only about 40 farmer associations in Punjab; in contrast, there were about 500 farmer organisations that participated in 2020–21.
