The police today detained about 40 farmers who were preparing to stage a protest at Surewala chowk on the Hisar-Chandigarh highway near Uklana in the district during the visit of CM Nayab Singh Saini today.
Farmers’ bodies had announced that they would stage a demonstration during the CM’s rally. However, the police reached the site and detained 40 farmers. They were taken to a police station and released after the CM’s programme ended.
The 2024 Indian farmers’ protest is the second round of continuous protests and road blockades initiated by farmers in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana on 13 February 2024. The primary requests of the protests include securing legal assurance for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops and complete forgiveness of loans for all farmers.
Background
In September 2020, the Parliament enacted Three bills: the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The administration claims that such laws would diminish the government’s involvement in agriculture and create greater opportunities for the private sector. The farmers were concerned that eliminating government protections would make them vulnerable to businesses.
In 2021, farmers protested against these laws. Over 200 farmers’ organizations joined the protest. On November 19, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the centre had chosen to revoke the three agriculture laws passed by Parliament in the year 2020.
The farmers are protesting once more, alleging that the government has failed to fulfill the promises made in 2020–2021. They also blame the government for not attempting to double their incomes. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) organized a statewide rural and industrial strike to show displeasure with the government.
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