NEW DELHI: The farmers’ protest is reverberating among the British lawmakers who are set to debate the issue of safety of protesters in the House of Commons on March 8.
Here are the key developments of the day:
1. British lawmakers will debate the issue of press freedom and safety of protesters in India next Monday. It is in response to an e-petition which had crossed the 100,000-signature threshold required for such a debate, the House of Commons Petitions Committee confirmed on Wednesday.
The 90-minute debate will be held at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament complex in London and will be opened by Scottish National Party (SNP) MP and member of the Petitions Committee Martyn Day, and a minister will be deputed to respond on behalf of the UK government.
The debate relates to the petition entitled ‘Urge the Indian government to ensure safety of protesters and press freedom', which called on the British government to make a public statement on the “kissan protests and press freedoms”.
Next week, the issue will come up for debate and is expected to involve backbench MPs who have been vocal on the issue of farmers' protests in India, including opposition Labour MP Tan Dhesi. India has emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country.
2. Ruling Congress and opposition SAD members on Wednesday prevented BJP MLA Arun Narang from speaking in the assembly, asking him to clear his stand on the centre's farm laws first. Narang was participating in the discussion on the governor's address on the third day of the budget session of the Punjab assembly when Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy interrupted him. Goldy was joined by Congress legislators Navtej Singh Cheema and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
Some Akali Dal MLAs, including Pawan Kumar Tinu, also protested against Narang. The protesting legislators said BJP MLAs had no right to speak in the house as they had stayed away when the amendment bills to "counter" the central farm legislations were passed in the Punjab assembly last year.
Harpartap Singh Ajnala, who was at the speaker's chair at the time, tried to calm the situation. But as the legislators continued to protest, Ajnala asked Narang to sit down. Talking to the media later, Goldy, a legislator from Dhuri, asked why BJP MLAs should be allowed to speak when the saffron party was not listening to the farmers protesting the farm laws.
3. Samajwadi Party members walked out of the Uttar Pradesh assembly over the issue of cane price, accusing the government of being anti-farmer. During the Question Hour, SP member Narendra Verma asked the government whether cane production cost has increased due to rise in prices of diesel, fertiliser, pesticides, agricultural equipment, and sought to know if the government is considering an increase in cane price.
In his reply, cane minister Suresh Kumar Rana said the state advisory price (SAP) of cane is declared after taking into note production and sugar production cost and other factors, and that the state had already done so for 2020-2021. While the prices for early variety is Rs 325 per quintal, for rejected varieties it is Rs 310 per quintal, and Rs 315 per quintal for common variety, he said.
On increasing SAP, he said, the "question does not arise" as for 2021 it has been already fixed. The minister also cited some data of payments made to cane farmers by the previous Samajwadi Party regime and said the present government is committed to the welfare of farmers. Leader of opposition, Ram Govind Chowdhury (SP), said the minister did not answer the important question. "When you are not raising the price, how can you double the income of farmers. This government is anti-farmers," he said and walked out along with other SP members.
4. Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma launched a programme to ensure that farmers and producer groups get timely availability of adequate quality inputs and better marketing infrastructure and transportation facilities. The chief minister also announced that the state government will spend Rs 200 crore over the next two years under the 'Chief Minister's Mobilisation Support for Producers' programme to help farmers and producer groups in the state to level up and leverage their enterprises.
The programme will ensure timely availability of adequate and quality inputs to farmers, help them access credit, improve marketing infrastructure, extension services and better transportation.
"Apart from many development projects that are important for the state and the people, we were very clear that we want to make an improvement in every individual's life. We want to take steps to transform the lives of the people at the grassroots level. We realized that there are many gaps in the system... and there are small things we can do that can change the lives of our people in every sector," he said at the launch of the programme at Tura in West Garo Hills district.
(With agency inputs)