NEW DELHI: A group of farmers under the banner of
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) are marching towards the national capital as part of the protest, '
Kisan Kranti Padyatra', to demand complete loan waiver and reduction in electricity tariff, among other requirements. Here are the details of the protest march:
* Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that farmers should not be stopped from entering the capital – “Farmers should be allowed to enter Delhi. Why are they not being allowed to enter Delhi? This is wrong. We are with the farmers.”
* Police used water cannons and fired teargas shell to disperse the farmers who were stopped at the Delhi-UP border.
* Heavy security has been deployed at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border and Section 144 of CPC has been imposed in several areas of the national capital to prevent any untoward incident. In east Delhi, the prohibitory orders, issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Singh under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, would be in force until October 8.
* Farmers participating in the movement are demanding for complete loan waiver and reduction in electricity tariff, seeking a provision of a pension to every farmer aged above 60.
* "We have organised the march to press for implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, loans waiver and scrapping the ban on plying of 10-year-old tractors in the national capital region among others," BKU national spokesman Rakesh Tikait said.
* Earlier on September 30, the Union had announced that their ‘Padyatra’ that has begun from Haridwar will reach the national capital on the occasion of the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2.
* The march is being organised from Patanjali (Uttarakhand) to Kisan Ghat (Delhi) via Muzaffarnagar, Daurala, Partapur, Modi Nagar/Muradnagar, Hindon Ghat between September 23 and October 2.
* The protesters are proceeding towards Delhi with hundreds of tractor-trolleys and private vehicles.
* "A large number of protesters are likely to come in Delhi from bordering areas of the east district. This may create law and order situation and may disturb the peace and tranquillity and endanger human life or property in the area of the east district," Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Singh said.
"They have not sought any permission from the Delhi Police for the protests," a senior police official said.
