Gurugram: Farmers’ unions in Haryana and Punjab under the aegis of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are gearing up to drive their tractors towards Delhi on 13 February to press for their demands, including a guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of over 40 farmers unions that spearheaded the farm agitation in 2020-21, has disassociated itself from the Delhi march call. But, it appealed to people to participate in the industrial and sectoral strike and the Grameen Bandh on 16 February.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Progressive Farmers’ Front, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Bhartiya Kisan Naujwan Union, Punjab, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and some other bodies are already holding tractor marches in villages across Haryana and Punjab for the more than a week.
In Chandigarh on Monday, farmers leaders Dallewal, Ramandeep Singh Mann, and Abhimanyu Kuhar told the media that the government neither has fulfilled the promises it made at the time of lifting of their Delhi agitation in December 2021 nor has it honoured the pre-poll promises of 2014 and 2019.
Bhartiya Kisan Naujwan Union president Abhimanyu Kuhar said that farmers from Haryana and Punjab will start their tractor march from the Shambhu border near Ambala, Dabwali Border in Sirsa district, and Khanauri border near Sangrur and march towards Delhi.
Kuhar said that if the government calculates the MSP by the formula of C2 plus 50 percent (comprehensive input costs on crops with 50 percent profit) recommended by the Swaminathan panel in its 2006-07 report, the MSP of wheat would come out to be between Rs 4,300 and Rs 4,500. Currently, the MSP of wheat is Rs 2,275 per quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season.
“However, neither the Congress government implemented this report from 2006 to 2014, nor the BJP government did after coming to power in 2014. Before the 2014 election, Narendra Modi promised that he would implement the Swaminathan report as the first policy decision of his government if he is voted to power. However, the Modi government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court in 2015 that it cannot implement the recommendations,” Kuhar alleged.
13 फरवरी को दिल्ली कूच की तैयारी के लिए आज चंडीगढ़ किसान भवन में SKM (अराजनैतिक) एवम किसान मजदूर मोर्चा ने साझा प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस करी और ऐलान किया कि शंभु, खनौरी एवम डबवाली बोर्डरों से किसान हरियाणा में एंट्री कर दिल्ली की तरफ आगे बढ़ेंगे। pic.twitter.com/yo29ZJ65FN
— Abhimanyu Kohar (@KoharAbhimanyu) February 5, 2024
ThePrint reached out to Mann over phone but he was not available. Later, he called back from an unknown number Monday and said that he and fellow farmer leaders were avoiding phones to avoid being tracked by security agencies.
He said that besides their demands for MSP as a guarantee and justice for the Lakhimpur Kheri farmers, the farmers bodies are also demanding a pension scheme of Rs 10,000 per month for farmers crossing the age of 58, crop insurance scheme by considering an acre as a unit from government funds, and taking back of all criminal cases registered against farmers in 2020.
Contacted by The Print Tuesday, Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) and founder of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha Party that contested the 2022 Punjab polls, said that the Morcha had nothing to do with the proposed Delhi march.
Similarly, Gurnam Singh Charuni, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), considered among the most active farmers’ bodies in Haryana, said his organisation was neither involved in the 13 February Delhi march nor with the February 16 strike.
Meanwhile, the Ambala police has warned people against participating in any strike or agitation without prior permission.
बिना सरकार/प्रशासन की अनुमति के सभा,जलुस व किसान आन्दोलन में ना लें भाग उठाना पड सकता है भारी नुकसान।
पुलिस अधीक्षक अम्बाला @police_haryana @AdgpAmbalaRange pic.twitter.com/lRrGoeE8SP— Ambala Police (@AmbalaPolice) February 5, 2024
In a message posted on ‘X’, Ambala SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said that the police had received information that some farmers were planning to participate in an agitation on February 13. Stern action would be taken against those found participating in agitation without permission, the SP said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)