Just five kilometres away from Parliament, thousands of farmers wearing turbans of different colours and styles gathered at the iconic Ramlila Maidan here on Monday demanding that the government fulfil the “written commitments” it made to them in December 2021.
The farmers have converged under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a grouping of farmer unions, that led around a one year-long agitation at Delhi borders and forced the government to withdraw the farm laws.
The farmers’ demands include a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP), withdrawal of cases registered against farmers, compensation to families of farmers who died during the protest, pension, debt waiver, and withdrawal of the Electricity Bill.
Avik Saha, national president, Jai Kisan Andolan said the central government has failed to meet the demands of farmers despite written commitments.
“Thousands of cases against farmers remain pending. More than 750 farmers lost their lives during the protest and compensation to their families are unpaid. And there are several other demands which have not been met,” he said.
SKM said it will be forced to launch another protest if the government does not fulfil its demands, including a law on MSP, debt waiver and pension.
A 15-member SKM delegation met with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at Krishi Bhawan in the afternoon and submitted a demand charter, farmer leader Darshan Pal said.
“There are several unresolved issues and these demand another ‘andolan’. We will convene another meeting on April 30 in Delhi. I ask all farmers unions to take out rallies in their respective states and hold panchayats in the run-up to the meeting,” he said, addressing the farmers who gathered at the Ramila Maidan here.
“We do not want to protest daily but we are forced to do it. If the government does not heed our demands, we will launch another andolan which will be bigger than the protest against the farm laws,” he said.
Pal said the demands included a law for MSP, complete debt waiver, pension, crop insurance, withdrawal of cases registered against farmers and compensation to families of farmers who died during the protest against now-repealed farm laws.
The farmers also demanded the dismissal and incarceration of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra and compensation for crop damage due to hail storm and unseasonal rains.
Baldev Singh, a 47-year-old farmer from Moga district of Punjab, said some members of the SKM had “gone astray” due to different reasons and the mahapanchayat also aims at bringing them together.
Majinder Shah, part of a farmers’ group which reached Delhi from Bihar’s Vaishali district, claimed farmers across the country are living a pitiful state. “The rich is becoming richer while the farmers who provide food to all have nothing to eat. Only 5 per cent of the Indians own most of the country’s wealth. On the other hand, farmers are required to sell their land to bear the expenses of the marriage of their children,” he said.