Thousands of farmers gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday to protest government inaction regarding promises made last year to address their concerns. Following yearlong protests in New Delhi by tens of thousands of farmers opposing the new liberal farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in November 2021 that his government would repeal all new laws and address the needs of farmers.
However, protesters argued that the government has taken no action so far. They have also demanded that the government guarantee a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all produce and legalise MSP. Furthermore, they have called on the government to clear all farmer debts.
Over 5,000 farmers from across India, including from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, and Kerala, arrived at Jantar Mantar to take part in a mahapanchayat organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of over 40 farmers unions. The mahapanchayat will address the concerns of the farming community and decide on the future course of action to be taken to ensure that their demands are met.
Farmers' protest underway at Delhi's Jantar Mantar against unemployment pic.twitter.com/RgMgUqkeXt
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2022
“The mahapanchayat is a one-day-long peaceful event where we will reiterate our demands such as a legal guarantee on MSP,” SKM member Abhimanyu Singh Kohar said. He argued that the government has done “nothing” to fulfil its promises and that the demands of farmers were never met. “So here we are again to discuss and raise our demands and chalk out future strategy of the movement,” Kohar added.
He noted that despite the gathering’s peaceful nature, the police have not given permission to conduct the mahapanchayat. According to reports, the Delhi police tightened security around the borders of Delhi and increased their presence near the protest area. According to The Hindu, police barricaded “all entry points” and checked every vehicle entering the capital, leading to huge traffic jams.
However, farmers who managed to reach Jantar Mantar appeared ready to camp for the long haul. One farmer from Punjab told PTI that he is ready to protest for days. “We are poor farmers. Nobody is helping us. Nothing is being done for us,” he said, adding, “The government had assured us that it will listen to our demands but nothing is being done. We will not hesitate to camp here, if required, to get our demands addressed.”
So, now farmers cannot enter Delhi, to protest ! The same happened in 2020, why antagonize the farmers @PMOIndia, Govt promised a committee to decide the mech of providing legal sanctity to "Min Support Price", which is ironically announced by your Govt, deliver on your promise ! pic.twitter.com/5MWOE8KX5c
— Ramandeep Singh Mann (@ramanmann1974) August 21, 2022
Meanwhile, the committee on the MSP formed four subgroups to study how to make the MSP more effective. Committee member Binod Anand told the media that despite inviting SKM to participate in the meeting, none of its representatives was present. The Committee was established by the Centre in July following SKM demands that farmers should be represented in any decision-making process.
The agricultural reform bills that led to the nationwide agitation back in 2020—The Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill—were criticised for being too liberalised.
Farmers had criticised the laws for giving more leverage to private companies and said their income would be further eroded. The laws were also slammed for being opaque and providing no redressal mechanisms or sureties to farmers. In this respect, tens of thousands of farmers held protests in New Delhi for over a year after the laws were first approved in September 2020. This led Prime Minister Modi’s government to backtrack and eventually repeal all three laws and promise to address all concerns of farmers, including making MSP “more effective and transparent.”