Farmers to protest outside Parliament daily during monsoon session

NEW DELHI: Farmers protesting against the three central agriculture laws are planning to intensify the seven-month-long agitation during the monsoon session of Parliament.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha — an umbrella body of farmer unions — announced on Sunday that a group of 200 farmers will protest outside Parliament every day during the upcoming monsoon session. The session will be held from July 19 to August 13.
The farmers said that on July 17, two days before the parliamentary session commences, they will hand over a "chetavani patra" (warning letter) to opposition members asking them to protest against the laws in the House.
"We will also ask the opposition MPs on July 17 to raise the issue every day inside the House while we will sit outside in protest. We will tell them to not to benefit the Centre by walking out of a session. Don't let the session run till the government addresses the issue," farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said.
The opposition MPs have been vocal against the three laws introduced by the government last year. They even staged a walkout when the laws were cleared in Parliament.
Elaborating about the protest, Rajewal said that five protesters from each farm union will be taken to join the agitation.
The protests outside Parliament will continue till our demands are met, he added.
The SKM also called for a nationwide protest on July 8 against the rising prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders.
It asked people to come out and park their vehicles at state and national highways from 10 am till 12 pm.
Thousands of farmers protesting against the farm laws marched to the national capital in November last year to intensify their agitation. The farmers have been stationed at some border points of Delhi since then, refusing to leave until the government withdraws the laws.
The farmers fear the laws will pave way for the end of the Minimum Support Price system - the central procurement regime which assures guaranteed prices for certain crops.
The government has repeatedly tried to assuage the farmers' concerns, saying that MSP-based procurement will continue.
(With inputs from PTI)