In Photos | Farmers Throng Delhi's Ramlila Maidan for Kisan Mahapanchayat
The Quint spoke to farmers, who have travelled to Delhi to partake in the Kisan Mahapanchayat, to know their demands
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) had, in February, said that the Kisan Mahapanchayat will be held in Delhi to press for a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
(Photo: Himanshi Dahiya/The Quint)
"Hum yahan apni rozi-roti ke liye aaye hain. Apne bachhon ke liye, apne ghar, apni zameen ke liye (We are here for our livelihood, our children, our home, and our lands)," said Anita Devi, 49, as she sat at a protest in Delhi's Ramlila Ground.
A 15-member delegation representing SKM met with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at the Krishi Bhawan in the afternoon and submitted a demand charter.
These demands include a law to guarantee Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, withdrawal of cases registered against farmers, compensation to families of farmers who died during the protest, pension, debt waiver, and withdrawal of the Electricity Bill.
Anita Devi, a 49-year-old landless labourer, travelled overnight from Sasaram in Bihar to the Ramlila Ground in Delhi to participate in the farmers' protest organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on 20 March.
A delegation representing the Samyukta Kisan Morcha — an umbrella body of multiple farm unions — met Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, and submitted a letter with details of the demands of the farmers.
These demands include pension for farmers, debt waiver, compensation for those who died during the farmers' stir, and withdrawal of the Electricity Bill.
Here, Jarnail Singh from Sangrur district in Punjab, reading the demand letter submitted to the union government.
Security was beefed up at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Monday in view of the Kisan Mahapanchayat, organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
The SKM had, last month, said that the Kisan Mahapanchayat will be held in Delhi to press for a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The farmers’ body, which had led the year-long protest against the now-repealed three farm laws, has also demanded the dissolution of the committee on MSP, claiming that it is contrary to their demands.
“If the Modi government doesn’t fulfill its promises, we’re ready for an even longer struggle,” said Chamkaur Singh, 47, one of the many farmers from Punjab’s Moga district, who had come to join the protest at Ramlila Ground.
Singh spent over 13 months at the Singhu Border protest site during the farmers protest, starting September 2020.
Farmers from Punjab’s Ferozepur camp at the Ramlila Ground.
Harneet Singh, member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said the year-long protests staged in 2020-21 were the first step towards a long struggle. "This mahasabha is in preparation of that greater struggle. From implementation of MSP to revoking cases registered against protesters in 2020 and 2021, we will not stop till the government fulfills all of these demands," he said.
Baljeet Kaur and her husband have come with a group of 25 farmers from Barnala district in Punjab. They had previously spent three months at the Tikri border protest site.
Yogendra Singh, 77, is a member of the All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM).
After spending three months at the Tikri border protest site in 2021, he said he and his entire family will join the protests if the government continues to ignore the farmers and their issues.
"Sirf main nahi, mere bacchhe bhi saath aayenge agar zaroorat padi toh (My children will come with me if need be)," he told The Quint.
In 2021, farmers protesting against the Central government's three farm laws, called off the protests after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address, announced that the government was repealing the laws.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) members from Ferozepur in Punjab.
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