Various farmers’ unions, including the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), called for a Gramin Bharat Bandh, a nationwide strike, on Friday, February 16, in order to press for their demands in front of the Centre. The SKM requested all like-minded farmers’ organisations to come together and be a part of the Bharat Bandh, which is called by the central trade unions.
The Bharat bandh call has come amid the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protests by hundreds of farmers, who are marching from Haryana, Punjab and have been stopped at the Haryana borders near Ambala, which is around 200 kilometres away from Delhi. Haryana security forces have been using tear gas on the farmers trying to disperse them.
The SKM (non-political) has asked all the like-minded farmer organisations to come forward and participate in the Bharat bandh, which is a day-long protest beginning from 6am to 4pm.
Farmers demand:
- Guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops through legislation.
- Strengthen the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
- Reinstitute the old pension scheme for wider coverage.
- Ensure pension and social security for all workers (formal & informal).
- Provide free 300 units of power for both farming and domestic use.
- Implement comprehensive crop insurance for better risk management.
- Increase existing pensions to ₹10,000 per month.
Unauthorized gatherings are banned in Noida and other parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in view of the ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a major farmers’ organization involved in the 2020-21 farmers’ protest, and Central Trade Unions. These organisations are not part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, but broadly their demands are the same.
The organisations have called on farmers to suspend all agricultural work between 6 am-4 pm and stage road blockades across the country. Senior leaders of nine Central Trade Unions will hold a joint protest at Jantar Mantar over 21 demands, including a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops, minimum pension, and minimum wage.
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