Farmers' Delhi March Today Over Legal Guarantee On MSP, Loan Waiver And Pension

New Delhi: A group of farmers are set to take a march towards Delhi on Monday. Sukhbir Khalifa, leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (BKP), confirmed the plans of the farmers stating that they are ready to march towards Delhi. Khalifa stated, “Tomorrow, on December 2, we will begin our journey from beneath the Mahamaya flyover at 12 pm, where we will gather and demand compensation and benefits according to the new laws.”

The protest march comes ahead of the scheduled protest march to Delhi by other farmer organisations, including the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), from December 6.

The key demands of the farmers, who will commence a protest march towards Delhi from Haryana and Punjab , include compensation demands, benefits under the new agricultural laws, and a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Besides a legal guarantee on the MSP, the protesters are demanding a 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.

Amidst the announcement of the farmers’ protest march, the Gautam Buddh Nagar Traffic Police and the local police have made adequate arrangements to ensure the law and order is in place. The traffic police have also issued an advisory warning to the public about potential disruptions on the roads and have suggested alternative routes.

The police have placed barriers at all borders between Gautam Buddh Nagar and Delhi, where both the Delhi police and the Gautam Buddh Nagar police will be deployed and a thorough checking will be conducted. The Traffic police may implement traffic diversions as well depending on the congestion on the roads.

Amidst farmers’ call for a protest march towards Delhi, Haryana’s Agriculture Minister Shyan Singh Rana stated, "They have no issues. The previous farmers' agitation had an issue- the three farm laws. Those three laws were later repealed by PM Narendra Modi and he even apologised to them. 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.