Keypoints:
- Farmer unions call for major countrywide protest December 14; blocking of Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Yamuna Expressway by December 12.
- The farmer unions said they would escalate the protest.
- The Union government December 9 afternoon sent a draft containing eight amendments.
Farmer leaders December 9, 2020 rejected the draft amendments presented by the Union government and reiterated the demand of a complete repeal of the three farm laws and the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 along with a written assurance of minimum support price.
Take back #FarmBills2020
— Bharatiya Kisan Union (@IndianFarmers_) November 30, 2020
The plans involve closure of the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, boycott of Reliance malls and capture of toll plazas. By December 14, there will be a full-scale protest across the country, they said. The decision was taken at a meeting after the Centre sent a written proposal laying out a series of amendments, an idea turned down by farmers who demand scrapping of the laws. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whose meeting with farmers was inconclusive Tuesday, had a two-and-half-hour meeting with Agriculture minister Narendra Tomar and Commerce minister Piyush Goyal yesterday evening.
Announcing the plans of the farmer unions after a meeting this evening, farmer leader Dr Darshanpal said, “We will block the Delhi-Jaipur highway by December 12. We will sit on dharna at all the toll plazas of country on December 12. We have called for a nationwide protest on 14th. We have asked the people to protest against every MP and MLA of the BJP”.
In the proposal sent earlier to 13 agitating farmer unions, the Centre promised a written assurance for minimum support prices, allowing farmers to go to court to resolve disputes instead of a sub-divisional magistrate and scrapping of the Electricity Amendment bill, which they opposed.
The government’s proposal, after Amit Shah’s meeting, was put in front of all farm leaders. and we all decided that the proposal is an insult to farmers. The proposal is also an insult to the Indian citizens,” the farm leaders told the media. The farm leaders insisted that they will not accept anything less than the total scrapping of the laws.
A team of opposition leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind yesterday evening to submit a memorandum on the farmers’ issues. The meeting comes amid talk of a rift in the opposition. A section of Trinamool Congress leaders said the party preferred to stay away from the meeting as Left parties and the Congress are “dominating the show”.
More than 10 days ago, thousands of farmers had reached Delhi borders to protest against the farm laws, which they say will shrink their income by doing away with the minimum prices fixed by the government and leave them at the mercy of corporates. The government says the laws are major reforms in the farm sector that will help farmers dispense with middlemen and allow them to sell produce anywhere in the country. At least five farmers have died since the protests began.
