Since the announcement of the three central farm legislations in September thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have been fighting against it. On 11 January, the Supreme Court paused the implementation of the new farm laws till further orders. Well, BJP governments in UP and Haryana have failed to convince the farmers, and governments of Rajasthan and Punjab have shown full support to the farmer’s choice. Gurnam Singh Chaduni is leading the protesters from Haryana. Under the umbrella banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha, many farmers and leaders have joined hands to camp at the borders to peacefully protest against the new laws of farming.
The Three laws and farmer’s being against it:
The three new laws that the government announced are The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation); The Farmer’s (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance; and Farm Services and The Essential Commodities (Amendment). Farmers do not accept these laws as they believe the laws will end the mandi system and farmers will have to work under the corporations. Farmers have demanded that the government must guarantee MSP in writing. Also, fear of the relationship of farmers with the arhityas has been spread hugely. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act imposes stockholding limits on foodstuffs, except under “extraordinary conditions”. The conditions are basically natural calamities of grave nature or war. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act concerns agreements entered into by farmers with agri-business firms. Enabling contract farming is directly tied up with corporate sectors. Farmers demand absolutely no restrictions on the movement, stocking, and export but these restrictions relate to “trade” mostly. Farmers continued to set up camps and many kept joining them providing the necessities and protesting against the new farm laws.
The protest:The main reason behind farmer’s [protest is the thought of laws weakening the APMC mandis. There is also a dispute resolution mechanism for transactions outside the mandis. Well, farmers insist on making MSP a legal right but it seems the government finds it impossible to meet. Initially, Delhi Police allowed the farmers to hold their tractor parade but it led to chaos and the death of a protesting farmer. However, Thousands of farmers still continued to protest from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh demanding a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops. To avoid ending up getting less for their crops they demand the withdrawal of the three laws. Along with that, farmers demand to withdraw the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill. Even after having many rounds of meetings, Farmer leaders continued to demand complete repeal of the laws. The government has set up many camps for providing vaccination to the farmers who are peacefully protesting on the borders. For now, farmers are happy with the immense support that they are receiving from both ruling and opposition parties in Punjab. Farmers keep actively joining the protest and supporting the protest to secure their farming rights.
