Thousands of farmers on Monday gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan for a “kisan mahapanchayat” demanding that the Union government fulfills the commitments it had made in 2021 while repealing the three agriculture laws.
The protest held under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella of farmers’ unions, that had spearheaded the historic protests against three farm laws in 2020.
On Monday, a delegation of farmers met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to discuss their demands and submit a memorandum.
“The protest has demanded that the Union Government fulfil the commitments it had given in writing to Samyukt Kisan Morcha on 9th December, 2021 vide Letter of Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, bearing No. Secretary/AFW/2021/Miss/1 and also take effective steps to mitigate the ever increasing and spiralling crisis being faced by farmers.It may be recalled that relying on this letter of the Government, Samyukt Kisan Morcha had lifted the Morchas on the borders of Delhi and all protest demonstrations on 11th December 2021. Today, over 15 months later, the Union Government has not fulfilled the promises made to the farmers,” read the memorandum by protesters.
“More than 750 farmers lost their lives during the protest and compensation to their families is unpaid. And there are several other demands which have not been met,” said Avik Saha, the national president of farmers’ body Jai Kisan Andolan.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Darshan Pal said that the unfulfilled demands call for a bigger movement.
