NEW DELHI: Farmers from various parts of the country are set to converge here under the aegis of a Left-backed organisation to participate in a two-day protest from Thursday to press their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for produce.
The two-day rally will be "one of the largest congregations of farmers" in the national capital in recent times, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) claimed on Wednesday. The convenor of AIKSCC, Hannan Mollah, said that on November 29, farmers will start the march from different corners of Delhi - Bijwasan , Majnu Ka Tila, Nizamuddin and Anand Vihar to Ramlila Ground in the heart of the city.
Leaders of different political parties barring the BJP will address the gathering on November 30 at Parliament Street, he said.
The AIKSCC, which claims to be an umbrella body of 207 outfits of farmers and agricultural workers, said it has made elaborate arrangements for holding peaceful protest.
"For the first time in the history of farmers' movement in the country, over two hundred farmers bodies have assembled under one platform.
This is an opportunity for us to compel the government to listen to the woos of farmers and hold a special session for farmers in Parliament," said Yogendra Yadav of Jai Kisan Andolan which is participating in the protest.
He claimed farmers from as far as Meghalaya, Gujarat, Kerela and Jammu and Kashmir have already begun their journey to reach the capital.
A cultural programme dedicated to farmers would be held at the Ramlila Ground on November 29, the first day of the protest, where prominent singers and poets from rural India would perform, the AIKSCC said.
"On November 30, farmers will start the 'march' from Ramlila Ground to Parliament.
"There will be two sessions in Parliament Street. In the first session, Kisan leaders will speak on different agrarian issues and in the second session, leaders of different political parties barring the BJP will address the gatherings," Mollah said.
Mollah alleged that the Centre has failed to address farmers issues compelling them to march to the national capital.
Atul Anjaan , national secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) , said that all top political leaders of opposition parties and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh , Kerala, West Bengal have been invited to the protest.
The AIKSCC was formed under the aegis of All India Kisan Sabha and other Left affiliated farmers' bodies in June 2017, after protests by farmers in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for debt relief and remunerative prices.
It had formulated two private members Bills-The Farmers Freedom from Indebtedness Bill 2018 and Farmers' Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Price for Agricultural Commodities Bill 2018.
The Bills have been tabled in Parliament as Private Members' Bills and the farmers conglomerate has demanded their passage in the upcoming winter session.