Supreme Court-appointed farm panel member Anil Ghanwat on Friday described as regressive the central government's decision to repeal the three farm laws which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year.
"Manmohan Singh Ji (former Prime Minister) tried many times but could not do. Today when it is implemented, propaganda is being spread," Tomar said.
When asked about celebrities like Tendulkar and Mangeshkar reacting to the ongoing agitation by farmers against the three new farm laws at the borders of Delhi, the NCP chief said that people had responded strongly.
However, the farmers are still protesting, demanding a law on MSP. Besides MSP, the farmers are also demanding a resolution for the livelihood of the families of the 700 farmers who died while protesting against the three farm laws.
'If our demands aren't met, then, we will hold tractor march on January 6 and also on January 26'
With the farmers' protest against the three new laws and in support of legalising the minimum support price (MSP) going strong, state governments have announced a slew of measures in their annual Budgets to placate farmers. The Centre kicked things off in the Union Budget by assuring farmers that the MSP would continue and coming out with a report card to demonstrate its commitment. However, these efforts don't seem to have yielded tangible results. In their respective Budgets, states chose to go a step further by announcing a variety of measures.
Singh wrote in the suicide note that the government must repeal these farm laws as these are against the interests of farmers, according to a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Events, including press conferences and public programmes, will be held in most of the over 700 districts of the country in this regard.
Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh national president Shiv Kumar Kakka said that every day from July 22, 200 farmers, wearing identification badges, will go to Jantar Mantar from the Singhu border to hold the protest.
In a show of strength, hundreds of women are expected to drive tractors at 'Kisan Gantantra Parade' on Republic Day, as a large number of farmers opposing the new agriculture laws will enter the national capital under a high security cover.
Senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that a section of farmers has fallen in the grip of a few people with "vested interests" and asserted that the government was working to address their misgivings about the reforms, which have drawn strong protests from a section of cultivators.
A group of 200 farmers will travel to Jantar Mantar from the Singhu border in buses with a police escort and hold protests there from 11 am to 5 pm, sources in the Delhi Police said.
The government and the farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve the protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday held a meeting at the Vigyan Bhawan with a delegation of farmers, including the leaders of several farm organisations holding protests in the national capital against the recent farm laws.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shobha Karandlaje on Friday said the Mangaluru blast accused had got 'Islamic State training' and had imparted the same to more than 40 people.
Land attachment and auction is being undertaken by banks that are controlled by the RBI, Gehlot said, urging the Centre to waive farmers' loans.
Farmer unions opposing the Centre's new agri laws on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by police officers to hold their proposed January 26 tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway instead of Delhi's busy Outer Ring Road, sources said.
The minister said that the last meeting held on December 30, 2020, happened in a cordial atmosphere and there is a possibility of positive results in the interest of farmers and of the country's farm sector at the next meeting.
Undeterred by the winter chill, thousands of farmers have stayed put at various border points of Delhi for the past nine days as part of their protest against the Centre's farm laws.
Chaduni is a member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farm unions that led an over a year-long farmers' agitation against three central agri laws, which have been repealed.
A day after unprecedented violence in Delhi during the tractor parade, the government on Wednesday said it has never stated that the doors for dialogue with farmers are closed and stressed that it will inform whenever the decision is taken for fresh talks.
Another farmer leader and SKM member said the agitation is likely to be called off on Wednesday as there have been some positive responses from the government side on the farmers' demands.
The development came a day after the protesting farmers rejected the Centre's offer to start talks as soon as they move to Burari and continued to stay put Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital.
With farm Acts out of the picture, the government may look at reforming the input side of the agriculture sector - regulations and rules that govern seeds, fertilisers and plant chemicals. Sources said such a blueprint, which is aimed at making the life of farmers easier, with quicker approvals but not compromising on quality, is in the works as part of the 100-day agenda of Modi 3.0. Also, ways to administer fertiliser subsidy more effectively and cutting down on leakages and diversions to build on the success of neem-coated urea are being thought of.
Wearing garlands, the farmer leaders, who had called for observing 'Sadbhavana Diwas' (Harmony Day) on Saturday after the immense outrage over violence by protesters during their Republic Day tractor rally, sat on the dais during the fast, as crowds of supporters swelled, especially in Gazipur where the Bharatiya Kisan Union is leading the protest.
The government should consider the farmers' demands sympathetically, Raut told reporters in Mumbai.
Without making any direct reference to the three new farm reform laws or to the three-month-old agitation by farmers, Modi said there is a need for expanding options for the country's farming community to sell agri produce.
Security remained tight at the Delhi borders with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri where the farmers have been camping.
The government on Tuesday asserted in Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss issues related to farmers both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests by the Opposition which forced repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.
Noting that farmers are suffering due to problems in the food supply chain, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said there is a need for ensuring better compensation for the farmers against their produce.
"No meeting will be held between farmers and the government tomorrow. The minister has said that a proposal will be given to the farmer leaders tomorrow (December 9). Farmer leaders will hold a meeting over government's proposal," Mollah had told the media on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had convened an emergency meeting of newly reconstituted Council of Ministers in view of the 'Bharat Bandh' call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to protest against the three agri laws, an official statement said after the cabinet meeting.
Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said if the Centre does not accept their demands during Saturday's talks, they will intensify their agitation against the new farm laws.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said that 'Khalistanis' have infiltrated the protest and he will file an affidavit along with the necessary inputs of the intelligence bureau (IB).
They also said they will observe the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23 as 'Azad Hind Kisan Diwas'.
Farmer unions Monday announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' on February 6 when they would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.
The representatives of thousands of agitating farmers, who are sitting on various borders of the national capital since November 26 demanding repeal of the three agri laws, have said that the countrywide strike on Tuesday would be observed with full force.
Police personnel in adequate strength were deployed across the state to maintain law and order, officials said.
The central government on Thursday sent a formal letter to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) agreeing to accept their pending demands and prompting the farmers' body to suspend their over a yearlong agitation.
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