Even as protesting farmers continued their demonstrations at Punjab-Haryana borders, the Haryana govt removed barricades put up between Ambala and Chandigarh National Highway. The Ambala-Chandigarh Highway has been reopened after being closed for 22 days.
The protesting farmers and the Centre have so far held at least four rounds of talks over the former’s demands but to no avail.
Haryana border sealed
The Haryana authorities had sealed the state’s border with Punjab at Shambhu near Ambala district on February 11, placing concrete blocks, sandbags, barbed wire and anti-riot vehicles on the road ahead of the farmers’ proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13.
Iron sheets were installed along the two sides of the road on the Ghaggar flyover to prevent protesters from dislodging police barricades. Additionally, water cannons and Vajra vehicles were deployed, and the Ghaggar river bed below was excavated.
Farmer leaders give ‘rail roko’ on March 10
The farmers have announced they will march towards Delhi on March 6 and farmers’ unions have called to block railway tracks on March 10 between 12 pm to 4 pm.
The two farmer leaders asserted that the farmers’ ongoing agitation will be intensified at the existing protest points and will continue till their demands are met by the government.
Farmers’ demand
The protesting farmers have presented a list of 12 demands to the central government. According to the protesting farmers, the centre promised them better crop prices after which they ended the 2021 protest. At the forefront of their demands is the enactment of a law guaranteeing a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, a measure advocated by the Swaminathan Commission report.
In addition to MSP assurance, the farmers are calling for a comprehensive debt waiver programme and the establishment of a pension scheme for both farmers and farm labourers. Furthermore, they are vehemently opposing the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and are urging for the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. This reinstatement would entail provisions ensuring farmers’ consent and compensation set at four times the collector rate.
In 2020, a large number of farmers from Punjab and nearby areas of Ambala gathered at the Shambhu border and broke police barriers to march towards Delhi.
The farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, held a year-long protest on Delhi’s border points — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — against the three now-repealed farm laws.
