The leaders of protesting farmer unions and Centre held marathon talks last night with Union minister Arjun Munda terming the discussion as “positive”. Munda along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the around five-hour-long meeting over the farmer unions’ various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The meeting came ahead of the “Bharat Bandh” (nationwide strike) called by the farmers’ body Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) today.
Hundreds of farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after they were stopped by security personnel during their march to Delhi earlier this week.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have given a “Delhi Chalo” call to press the Centre to accept their demands.
Huge traffic was witnessed at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border as police and paramilitary personnel kept a tight vigil on the activities at the borders of the national capital amid the farmers’ protest.
#WATCH | Traffic snarls continue as commuters face delays and traffic jams entering into Delhi; visuals from Ghazipur border pic.twitter.com/hfJdReL5pe
– ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2024
Many buses in Punjab stayed off the roads today morning in response to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s call for a ‘Bharat Bandh’. According to reports, Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers’ Union are supporting the SKM bandh call.
Farmer unions including Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakunda), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Qadian) and Kirti Kisan Union are taking part in the bandh.
Protesting farmers want a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. They are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation for the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
In view of the farmers’ protest, all the toll plazas in Haryana will remain toll free for three hours between 12 pm and 3 pm today.
The police have cautioned commuters going to Delhi and coming back from the national capital of traffic diversions in Noida.
In a traffic advisory, the police said intensive checking will be done by installing barriers on all the borders of Noida and Delhi by the police on both sides due to which there will be a pressure on vehicular movement and traffic would be diverted according to requirement. “People going to Delhi please use Metro as much as possible to avoid traffic inconvenience. Arrival of all types of goods vehicles will be restricted on the route from Yamuna Expressway to Delhi via Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and from Sirsa to Surajpur via Pari Chowk. To avoid traffic inconvenience, drivers can use alternative routes to reach their destination,” the police said.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which is one of the farmer unions, has called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ today over several issues including non-implementation of a law that guarantees MSP for crops. Besides farmers’ groups, traders and transporters have also been asked to support the cause and observe a work strike today.
The leaders of protesting farmer unions and Centre held marathon talks last night. Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, who was part of the meeting, termed the discussion as “positive” and said that another round of talks will be held on Sunday. Munda along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the around five-hour-long meeting over the farmer unions’ various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
With inputs from NDTV