In late September, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to three "Farm Laws", or the "Agriculture Bills" which went on to shake the world's largest democracy to its core as farmers feared these laws could impact their livelihood - one that is often termed the largest source of livelihoods in India. As much as 70 percent of the country's rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood.
Farmers set out for the capital New Delhi on November 26 with a slogan – "Delhi Chalo" which translates to "Let's go to Delhi". A lot has changed since then, but what hasn't changed - the perseverance of farmers to protect their interests and the farm laws themselves - is catalyzing a change in India that reminds its citizens of the power of their voice and reflects on the global sentiment of change after the last couple of years saw massive protests in every corner of the world. In the Live Discourse, we aim to accumulate all perspectives on the farm laws and the fallout that followed, to help readers get a better sense of what's next for the sector that is the largest source of livelihood in India.
They're trying to do that thing over and over and over, do the right things and give themselves the chance." Barty has sent Australia into a frenzy by going deep in the tournament over the past three years but ended up leaving them wanting more. A quarter-finalist in 2019, Barty tore through the draw in 2020 but suffered a surprise semi-final loss to eventual winner Sofia Kenin.
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The laws were repealed last month by Parliament and after the government also conceded to other demands of the farmers, including a panel for legal guarantee on MSP, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday announced suspension of the protest.Emotions ran high, as farmers hugged and congratulated each other on the success of their movement, and also promised to keep bonds forged during the past year intact.
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Indian farmers called off a long-running protest on Thursday after the government conceded a clutch of demands, including assurances to consider guaranteed prices for all produce, instead of just rice and wheat, union leaders said.
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Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has called for state-wise compensation and employment for the kin of farmers who lost their lives while agitating against the farm laws.
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A crucial meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will be held at the Singhu border on Saturday to decide on the future course of the agitation.
Farmer leaders said any decision on whether to send five names to the Centre for a panel on MSP will be taken in the meeting as they have not yet received any formal communication from the government.
The meeting will also ponder over pending demands of the protesting farmers which include legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) of crops, withdrawal of cases against farmers, compensation to kin of farmers who lost their lives during the agitation.
''Our crucial meeting is tomorrow (Saturday) at 11 am. Along with discussing our pending demands, the SKM will decide future course of the movement. Since we have not yet got any formal communication from the Centre to submit names of five farmer leaders for a committee on MSP, we will decide in the meeting whether we have to send the names to them,'' SKM core committee member Darshan Pal told PTI.
The Centre on Tuesday had demanded five names from the SKM to form a panel to deliberate on MSP and other issues.
However, later in the day the SKM in a statement said that its leaders had received a phone call from the Centre on the issue but there was no formal communication.
On Monday, the central government had passed a bill in Parliament to repeal the three contentious farm laws.
Repeal of the farm laws was one of the main demands of the protesting farmers. But the stalemate continues as their other demands such as legal guarantee on MSP, compensation to families of farmers who died during the movement and withdrawal of cases against them are still to be met.
The SKM, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions, in a statement on Friday said that farmers struggle for pending demands continues as their is no formal assurance from the Centre as yet on them.
“SKM has not received any reply from the government in response to its letter to the Prime Minister, where SKM had raised six key demands as a pre-condition for withdrawal of the farm movement,” the statement said. It said that permanent morchas in dozens of places continue at Delhi borders and elsewhere.
The SKM statement said that it is noted that BJP leaders are themselves pressuring the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh to address farmers' issues as elections draw closer in the state. “In a video message to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, UP MLA Romi Shahni is being heard pleading for pending arrears to sugarcane farmers to be paid,” the statement said.
The farmers' body said that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is reported to have said that he will invite farm leaders of the state to discuss unresolved issues with them.
“It is apparent that BJP leaders and its state governments are waiting for an indication from the Union government, and thus it is their responsibility to urgently proceed on the pending demands,” the statement said.
The Centre on Wednesday notified a legislation to repeal the three agriculture laws against which thousands of farmers have been protesting for over a year now.
The Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 received the assent of the President of India on November 30, said a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
This law was passed by Parliament on November 29 without debate amid protests by Opposition MPs.
The Farm Laws Repeal Act seeks to repeal three new farm laws which were passed by Parliament in September last year with an objective to bring reforms in the agriculture sector, especially marketing of farm produce.
These three farm laws were -- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha SKM on Wednesday also condemned the Centres response in Parliament on compensation to the kin of farmers, who died during the protest against three agriculture laws, and reiterated its demand for financial assistance to the families of those deceased.
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The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday condemned the Centre's response in Parliament on compensation to the kin of farmers, who died during the protest against three agriculture laws, and reiterated its demand for financial assistance to the families of those deceased, an official statement said.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar reportedly said the government has no information about farmers' deaths during the protest and therefore, the question of financial assistance does not arise.
In the statement, the SKM alleged that the BJP government was trying to divide protesting farmers by not starting formal dialogue again and not responding formally to the letter sent by the SKM, reminding it about the pending demands. ''The BJP government should stop attempting to divide farmers even at this stage. Farmers' unions stand united and the Modi government should stop its continued divisive agenda. The SKM is awaiting formal communication with all required details from the government,'' it said.
Criticising the Union government's response, the SKM, an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, said that through such remarks the Centre continues to ''insult'' the huge sacrifices made by protesting farmers.
''The SKM condemns the response of Government of India in Parliament where Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply said that the government has no information about deaths in the farmers' movement and therefore, question of financial assistance does not arise. ''The SKM reiterates its demand for compensation and rehabilitation of the kin of more than 689 martyrs in the ongoing agitation,'' the statement said. Senior farmer leader and SKM core committee member Shivkumar Sharma 'Kakkaji' alleged that the government was ''lying'' and running away from its responsibilities by making such remarks. ''Teams of the Intelligence Bureau were collecting information from us about farmers who were martyred during the course of the movement but still the government is saying that they have no record of such deaths. It shows the government is lying in Parliament. It is the government's responsibility to provide compensation to the families of deceased farmers,'' Sharma told PTI.
He said the government can also check with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) about farmers' deaths during the agitation as they also collect data about all types of deaths in the country.
The farmers' body also clarified that the agitation is still continuing and no one is leaving protest sites.
''Morchas around Delhi borders continue, with more tractor-trolleys reaching the protest sites and the struggle will continue. More farmers are coming so that everyone can go back together victorious,'' the statement said.
The SKM appealed to farmers not to believe falsehoods being spread about protests ending.
It added that the SKM will hold its meeting on December 4, as announced earlier, and decide the future course of the agitation.
On Monday, a bill was passed in Parliament to repeal the three contentious farm laws.
Repeal of the farm laws was one of the main demands of the thousands of protesters. But the stalemate continues as their other demands such as legal guarantee on MSP, compensation to families of farmers who died during the movement and withdrawal of cases against them are still to be met.
The Centre on Tuesday demanded five names from the SKM for a panel to deliberate on MSP and other issues. However, the SKM in a statement said that its leaders had received a phone call from the Centre on the issue but they were yet to get a formal communication in this connection.
Appealing protesting farmers to end their agitation, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday said the Centre has agreed to their demand of decriminalising stubble burning.Tomar, in an official statement, said the other demand of farmers was to have a discussion on the minimum support price MSP and crop diversification.
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Compensation for the farmers who lost their lives, withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the protests and other issues of farmers will be on the agenda in the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) meeting, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday.
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