Indian farmers, protesting a week ago, rejected the government’s plan to support prices for some agricultural products and assured that they would resume their massive march towards the capital New Delhi.
On Monday night, the farmers’ negotiating committee rejected a government proposal that would have guaranteed minimum selling prices for a range of crops, including pulses, corn and cotton, for five years.
The proposal made by authorities on Sunday “is not in the interests of farmers,” Jagjit Singh Dallewal, one of the commission’s leaders, told the Press Trust of India.
Dallewal added that farmers, tens of thousands of whom have camped about 200 kilometers from the capital awaiting the government proposal, would resume their march on Wednesday.
“We call on the government to solve our problems or remove the barricades and allow us to begin [Nova] Delhi will protest peacefully,” the leader said.
On February 13, thousands of farmers began a mass march from the states of Haryana and Punjab, the latter known as the “breadbasket of India,” to reach New Delhi and present their demands.
However, the protest was stopped by the authorities from the first day in both Indian states.
In Haryana, clashes broke out between protesters and authorities, who used barricades and tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Farmers, organized by several unions, are demanding, among other things, that minimum selling prices for all crops be guaranteed by law to protect prices from market fluctuations.
The introduction of minimum prices was one of the main demands of farmer protests between 2020 and 2021, when thousands of farmers camped on New Delhi’s borders for nearly 15 months in response to agrarian reforms pushed by the Indian government.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to bow to pressure to repeal a law that farmers said gave too much power to big companies by deregulating the market.
Now the trade unions believe that in two years the government has not fulfilled all the demands made.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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