NEW DELHI: Many farmers camping at Delhi's Singhu border complaining of headache, cold, fever and joint pain prefer the powder handed out by Dr Mohammad Salimuddin, which he says is made of herbs, over pills offered by multiple free medical camps there.
At the camp set up by the Bharatiya Kisan Samiti, Dr Salimuddin's table is lined with boxes, containing powder, labelled turmeric, ashwagandha, black pepper and fenugreek seeds among others.
For joint pains, he recommends a mixture of turmeric and ashwagandha, while black pepper does the trick for cold.
"Prolonged use of these herbs can cure any ailment," he said.
"We have about 100-150 patients everyday, and most of them complain about cold, headache, fever and joint pains. A majority of the farmers coming to us are elderly suffering from knee and back pain aggravated due to the cold," said the doctor who has been practising herbal medicine in Hyderabad for the last 20-years.
When asked why he expects farmers to come to him, instead of the other medical camps offering modern treatment, a patient jumped in to reply, "We are farmers and we have always believed in 'desi' treatments more than anything else."
Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Singhu border for over three weeks now as the stalemate between the government and the protesters, who are demanding a repeal of the three new agri laws, continued without any signs of a breakthrough.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.