New Delhi: Several farmers are gathering at Parliament Street here on Monday to demand “better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt”.
The protest which is being organized under the banner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), with farmers from over 180 organizations.
They are protesting against the cost versus income imbalance presently being faced by the farmers in the country, leading to suicides and indebtedness.
The farmers will walk from Ramlila Maidan to Parliament Street and hold a meeting there to highlight farm distress and farmer suicides. The AIKSCC has put forth two chief demands to the Centre – 50% profit margin over the cost of production and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.
According to the AIKSCC, “steady rise in input costs, like fuel, pesticides and fertilisers and even water, and slashing of subsidies by the government were the key factors behind cost versus income imbalance presently been faced by the farmers. This massive injustice in prices is pushing farmers into debt, forcing them to commit suicide and ignite repeated protests across the country.”
To address their plight we are congregating in large numbers in Delhi on November 20 in a ‘Kisan Mukti Sansad’,” an All India Kisan Sabha leader said.
One of the highlights of the protest will be the preparation of a “draft bill”, encompassing the two key demands that will be debated by a ‘farmer’s parliament.’
Farmers from Tamil Nadu said they were deliberating over beginning a third round of protest in the national capital. “We might continue the protest in Delhi once again after consulting farmers from other parts of the country,” media coordinator of the agitating farmers Prem Kumar said.
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