Farmer's protest against the new Farm Bill at Singhu Border on December 14, 2020. Express photo by Abhinav SahaFarmers Protest Live Updates: Even as protests against three farm laws continue on Delhi borders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today interact with farmers in Kutch, including those from Punjab, during his visit to the border district. While the farmers — who have been protesting for 20 days now — want the three legislations to be scrapped, the government said that it is willing to continue talks but won’t take back the laws.
“A repeal is not possible, and a 0-1 binary will not work. The government has given an amendment option. It is also willing to change the wordings of the three laws based on farmer concerns,†said a top government source who is in the know of developments in Krishi Bhawan. “The door for talks is always open.†The previous five rounds of talks have remained inconclusive. The last scheduled round, on December 9, was cancelled after a meeting between Shah and representatives of farm unions.
Meanwhile, with the number of protesters at Delhi’s borders growing by the day, senior officers in Haryana Police said the borders can’t take more people as “the situation is increasingly turning unsustainableâ€. Haryana Police said more than 60,000 protesters are camping at the borders while the farmer leaders said the figure is higher. Apart from far-flung areas of Punjab, farmers have been arriving from Haryana, MP, UP and other parts of the country to join the protest.
Farmer's protest against the new Farm Bill at Singhu Border, New Delhi, on Monday, December 14, 2020. Express photo by Abhinav Saha
Members of farmer unions on tractor trolley going to Panchkula DC office following a nationwide call given by their unions against the new farm laws on Monday. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
PM Narendra Modi will interact with farmers in Kutch, including those from Punjab, during his visit to the border district on Tuesday to lay the foundation stone of a 30,000-megawatt (MW) hybrid renewable energy park, four seawater desalination plants and a modern milk processing plant of Sarhad Dairy.
The PM will land in Kutch district headquarters Bhuj and fly to Tent City, the venue of the annual Rann Utsav at Dhordo village near Khavda, around 80 km west of Bhuj.
“At Dhordo, the Prime Mini-ster will interact with progressive farmers of Kutch as well as Punjabi farmers on Kutch border,” an official release from the information department of Gujarat government stated on Monday.
Amid growing support to the agitation against three agri laws, the farmers staged protests across Haryana on Tuesday. As part of the nationwide call, the protests were mainly planned at district headquarters but farmers staged such protests at small towns too.
In Jind, the farmers in their around 1,000 vehicles, mainly tractor-trolleys, staged a march before moving to local mini secretariat. The farmers removed police barricades installed to halt their movement little away from the mini secretariat complex.
They raised slogans against the government and the three farm laws. They handed over a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Aditya Dahiya. Later, the farmers moved to the residence of BJP MLA from Jind, Krishan Midha, to stage a demonstration there. (Read more here)
Over the past two weeks, protesting farmers have had to tackle dirty toilets and drains. And with the crowd becoming bigger by the day, the situation is fast turning into a health hazard. Read our ground report, here
Facing backlash over the three farm bills, the Central BJP has once again instructed the Delhi unit to launch its farmer outreach programme in the capital’s villages and outskirts.
It has also told the Delhi BJP, as well its units in other states, to use social media, hoardings, leaflets in newspapers and distribute separate booklets that it has published for the Sikh community to clear misconceptions regarding the laws.
In an official communication, the state units have been told that “some political parties have been trying to misguide and mislead the farmers”. As the party’s social media is a “strong medium of communication”, “all states to utilise the forum proactively and and publicise the trend and hashtag to be given by Centre”.
A company managing the Ladowal Toll plaza on the Panipat-Jalandhar highway has moved to the Punjab and Haryana High Court claiming loss of Rs 36.63 crore as it is unable to collect toll fee due to law and order problem following the farmers agitation.
The petitioner, Panipat-Jalandhar NH-1 Tollway Private Limited, through counsel Advocate Sumeet Goel, has contended before the bench that company suffered loss of around Rs 36.63 crore, excluding interest, following non-collection of requisite toll fees at Ladowal toll plaza from October 7 to November 24.
Stressing that the farm laws will be beneficial to the farmers, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told news agency ANI that they should try and understand the legislation. "Our government is dedicated to farmers and is ready to accept the suggestions given by them. There will not be any injustice with farmers in our government. If there is no dialogue, it can lead to miscommunication, to controversy & sparring. If there is a dialogue then issues will be resolved, the whole thing will end, farmers will get justice, they'll get relief. We're working in the interest of farmers."
He also added that some elements are trying to "misguide farmers by misusing this protest." "This is wrong. Farmers should try to understand the three laws. Right now, the Agriculture and Commerce ministers are engaged in dialogue with the farmers. If I am told to talk to them, I will definitely talk to them," Gadkari added.
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The ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws entered day 20 on Tuesday but there are no signs yet of both the parties reaching a common ground. While the farmers want the three legislations to be scrapped, the government said that it is willing to continue talks but won’t take back the laws.
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