Indian farmers to resume ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Saturday

Farmers, mainly from Punjab, would resume their “Delhi Chalo” protest foot march on Dec.14 over non-fulfilment of long-pending demands and gave a call for mass gathering at the two interstate borders along Haryana on Friday to express solidarity over completing 10 months of the protest.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday told the media at the protest site that a group of 101 farmers would march towards Delhi on Saturday for agricultural demands in front of the Parliament.

He said on Wednesday they would pray in Sikh shrines to express solidarity with the protesters and for the success of the movement.

Protesting farmers suspended their foot march to Delhi on Dec.8, two days after their first attempt, after some of them suffered injuries in teargas shelling by security personnel deployed at Shambhu, the entry point of Haryana.

The farmers have been marching in support of their long-pending demands, including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops, loan waiver and reforms to improve conditions in the agricultural sector.

The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since Feb.13 under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha after their march to Delhi was stopped by the security forces.

Meanwhile, the condition of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal started worsening on the 15th day of the fast. As per doctors attending on him, Dallewal’s weight is decreasing and his blood pressure is not stable.

“The Haryana government has turned this border like the India-Pakistan border,” said a protester in one of the protest marches.

As a preventive measure to check any untoward incidents, the security at the interstate border located on the Ghaggar rivulet has been heightened.

Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed on the Haryana side of the border along with the state police.

Haryana Police had asked farmers who were heading to the national capital not to proceed further and cited a prohibitory order clamped under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

On both occasions, the security forces had to use teargas shells to disperse the protesting farmers when they attempted to cross the makeshift barricades, heavily guarded by paramilitary and police personnel, by climbing on them.

It was set up temporarily on the border to prevent the protesting farmers from moving ahead.

Separately, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that over 2.04 crore farmers from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

The 18th instalment of the scheme was released in October to 9.58 crore farmers comprising 1.16 crore SC farmers, 88.34 lakh ST farmers, and 7.54 crore farmers in the “others” category, the figures furnished by the minister show.

The minister also said the government has implemented several measures to ensure seamless registration, particularly for SC, ST and OBC communities facing land ownership documentation challenges.

In answer to another question, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur said more than Rs3.46 lakh crore has been disbursed in 18 instalments to farmers since the inception of the scheme.

To ensure the timely and transparent transfer of funds to farmers through DBT, several technological interventions have been made under PM-KISAN, which includes integration with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), UIDAI and the Income Tax Department, he explained.

Further, land seeding was made mandatory along with Aadhar-based payment and e-KYC.

As and when the farmers complete their mandatory requirements, they receive the benefits of the scheme along with their due instalments, if any, he added.

To ensure the prompt resolution of issues faced by the farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, the Government has developed an exclusive grievance mechanism “Help Desk,” a dedicated module for raising grievances by the farmers, the minister said.

Indo-Asian News Service