Spotlight on Samyukta Kisan Morcha meet in Delhi today

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, March 13

A large number of farmers from Punjab today headed for Delhi in buses and trains with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) organising a one-day All India Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat at Ramlila Ground tomorrow.

The umbrella body, representing nearly 40 associations of farmers and labourers, is expecting a turnout of over one lakh participants. It is organising the first such event since its year-long agitation ended at the Delhi borders in 2021.

The primary demands of the SKM and trade unions include a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops at 1.5 times the cost (known as C2+50%) with guaranteed procurement and a complete loan waiver for small and medium farm households.

Even as the agitation by several farmers’ unions of Punjab is going on Haryana-Punjab borders for the past one month for similar demands, the SKM’s rally assumes significance as the gathering could build pressure on the outgoing Union government.

In an effort to solidify their strength and influence ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election, SKM leaders have been actively reaching out to key farmers’ unions across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

During the mahapanchayat, a resolution is expected to be passed to “intensify the fight” against the Central government’s “corporate, communal and dictatorial policies”. The initiative aims to protect farming, food security, livelihood, and the economy from corporate exploitation, the SKM stated in its press release issued yesterday.

The SKM claimed that farmers had already started arriving in the Capital.

The Delhi Police have given permission to the SKM to hold the mahapanchayat with the certain conditions: gathering must not exceed 5,000, there should be no tractor trolleys and march at Ramlila Maidan.

The police have also issued a traffic advisory for commuters, asking them to avoid roads leading to central Delhi.

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