CHANDIGARH: On the fifth anniversary of the Dilli Chalo march against the now-repealed three farm laws, thousands of farmers from across Punjab reached Chandigarh on Wednesday to remind the Centre of its unfulfilled promises. A memorandum addressed to the President of India by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) highlighted the non-fulfillment of written assurances made to farmers by the Centre on December 9, 2021 including enacting a law on Minimum Support Price and guaranteed procurement, comprehensive loan waiver, and repealing of labour codes, among others.
Farmers descended on the Dussehra Ground in Sector 43 to take part in the SKM rally amid tight security and left in the evening. Representatives of the SKM that comprises around 30 farmer organizations addressed the gathering.
The memorandum read, "On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the historic farmers' struggle, the farmers and workers across the country are once again forced to hold mass protest demonstrations. As you are aware, the historic farmers' struggle that began on November 26, 2020 at the Delhi borders, actively supported by the united trade union movement, lasted for 380 days in which 736 farmers lost their lives and then the central government was forced to repeal the three farm acts. In the context of the written assurance to form a committee to fulfill the pending demands of the farmers including MSP@C2+50 per cent by the Union Government to SKM on December 9, 2021, the struggle had been suspended."
It stated, "For the last five years, the farmers of India have waited patiently for the government of India to fulfill the assurances. Unfortunately, it has instituted measures that further ruined the economical sustenance of farmers and erode agricultural self-reliance and food security of the country."
Talking to The New Indian Express, senior SKM leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal, who is also president of BKU (Lakhowal Group), said, "In the memorandum submitted to both the central and state government representatives today, we have demanded that the governments should immediately enact laws to realize MSP@C2+50 per cent for all crops with guaranteed procurement in the parliament as well as in all state assemblies."
He said, "In view of the unseasonal rains and flooding fields, the moisture level should be enhanced to 22 per cent from the current 17 per cent. The State Administered Price of sugarcane should be made Rs 500 per quintal and all arrears of payment with interest should be immediately cleared. It should also declare a comprehensive loan waiver scheme for farmers and agricultural workers, enact a law to control Micro Finance Institutions that extort high interests from poor peasants and destitute landless labour families, ensure legal action against harassment of borrowers and provide interest free credit to peasants."
Lakhowal said, "We are demanding that the central government should immediately withdraw the Electricity Bill 2025, besides there should be no privatization of electricity and it should stop installation of smart meters. It should also provide free power for agriculture and 300 units of free electricity per month to all households. It should immediately repeal the four labour codes notified recently.
He said, "Our other demands are ending privatization of public sector units; providing secured permanent employment in the organised sector and Rs 26,000 per month as minimum wage, Rs 10,000 as monthly old age pension and social security to all workers in the unorganised sector including agricultural workers, cancelling the notification that scrapped the 11 per cent import tariff on cotton, and enhancing MGNREGS budget to ensure 200 days of work and Rs 700 as wage."
He added, "It should also restore Rs 84,000 crore fertilizer subsidy, ensure adequate supply of DAP and Urea fertilizers and end black marketing. It should also stop imposing Nano Urea and Nano DAP on farmers and declare all severe floods and landslides as national disasters."
The farmers' unions demanded that the government should announce a judicial enquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court on the causes of the flood situation and the impact of the corporate seizure of natural resources in the sensitive Himalaya regions without an environment impact study. They also demanded compensation of Rs 1 lakh crore to all calamity affected states and Rs 25,000 crore to Punjab.
The memorandum said the Centre should "scrap the Prime Minister Fasal Bhīma Yojana (PMFBY), establish an insurance scheme for crops and livestock in the public sector, and repeal all neo-liberal policy reforms that trespass on powers of states such as Electricity Bill 2025, Seeds Bill 2025, National Cooperation Policy (NCP), New Education Policy (NEP), National Policy Framework on Agriculture marketing ((NPFAM) and Labour codes."