Heavy traffic in Noida as police tightens security ahead of ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’

Hundreds of farmers from Punjab have gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan to attend “Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat”. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 37 farm unions, which gave the call for the ‘mahapanchayat’ on February 22 at a meeting in Chandigarh, got a no-objection certificate for the gathering from the Delhi Police and municipal corporation on March 11.

The Delhi Police has allowed farmers to hold the ‘mahapanchayat’ with the condition of gathering not exceeding to 5,000, no tractor trolleys, no march at the Ramlila Maidan.

Delhi Police officers said that they had asked SKM to restrict the number of participants to 5,000 but expect more than 15,000 people to attend it. On its part, the SKM said more than 30,000 farmers from Punjab are expected to reach the national capital.

The police have also issued a traffic advisory for the commuters to avoid roads leading to central Delhi, they said.

The “mahapanchayat” is being held at a time when other farmer unions under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and SKM (Non-Political), splinter groups of the SKM, are holding sit-ins at Shambhu and Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border for the past one month after their “Delhi Chalo” march was halted by security forces.
Farmers have been demanding legislation ensuring a legal status for MSP for their crops. Additionally, they demand implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations for MSP, pensions for farmers and agricultural workers, and the waiver of farm debts.

While the SKM is not part of the “Delhi Chalo” march but it has extended support to the splinter groups at both the sites.

According to the SKM, farmers will adopt a ‘Sankalp Patra’ or ‘letter of resolution’ at the Mahapanchayat to intensify the fight against the “pro-corporate, communal, dictatorial policies of the Modi government, to fight to save farming, food security, livelihood and the people from corporate loot.”