Farmers have decided to continue their struggle in Delhi even as agricultural laws are being withdrawn.
Record: November 21, 2021 05:48
AM
New Delhi,
The federal government last year brought in 3 amendment laws aimed at reforming the agricultural sector. Farmers across the country protested and went on strike.
Farmers from various states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been struggling in Delhi for the past one year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday abruptly announced that he would withdraw all the three controversial laws as the ongoing conflict between the government and the farmers over the issue continues.
This decision of the Central Government is welcomed by the agricultural organizations. At the same time, the farmers have announced that they will continue their struggle until the three laws are formally withdrawn by Parliament.
They also called on the government to enact legislation to provide a legal guarantee of a minimum support price. Various opposition parties have reiterated this demand.
In this context, the main consultative meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a federation of agrarian organizations leading the peasant struggle, was held in Delhi yesterday. It was decided to continue their struggle in the coming days as already planned.
Thus it was decided to hold a public meeting in Lucknow tomorrow (Monday) to mark the one-year anniversary of the Delhi struggle, a nationwide protest on the 26th, and a tractor rally towards the parliament on the 29th to mark the start of the winter session.
Krishna Prasad, one of the agrarian leaders, said, ‘The Samyukta Kisan Morcha welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement that the agricultural laws will be repealed. At the same time, we have decided that the government should hold talks with the farmers on other pending issues.
Accordingly, he asked the Union government to talk to the farmers on issues like minimum support price, repeal of the electricity bill, dismissal of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, cancellation of cases filed against the struggling farmers and compensation to the families of the deceased farmers.
This aside, the general body meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha is taking place today (Sunday). It includes a detailed consultation on the decisions taken at yesterday’s meeting and the recommendations made.
With the government deciding to repeal the agrarian laws, the executives said the farmers were to hold detailed consultations at today’s meeting on the future plan of their struggle.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary has advised farmers to continue their struggle until they get a legal guarantee of a minimum support price. At the same time, he welcomed the decision of the Central Government to repeal all the three agricultural laws.