11:02 (IST)
Protesters block Ghazipur border
Protesting farmers block Ghazipur (Delhi-Ghaziabad) border on Tuesday. Traffic from Delhi towards Ghazipur and Ghaziabad on Delhi-Meerut Expressway affected as both side carriageways are shut for traffic, ANI reported.
10:58 (IST)
Punjab farm agent to shut shops for 4 days in protest against IT raids
Commission agents known as Arhtiyas in Punjab will keep their shops shut for four days from Tuesday in protest against income tax raids allegedly conducted to intimidate them for supporting the farmers’ stir against the centre’s agriculture laws, according to a body representing them.
The Federation of Arhtiyas said income tax raids have been conducted on the premises of six commission agents in the past a few days.
“We have decided to shut our shops for four days to protest the action of the Income Tax Department against arhtiyas,” said Vijay Kalra, president of the federation.
10:06 (IST)
Will take more than a month to resolve issues: BKU’s Rakesh Tikait
“We have not received any meeting invitation from agriculture minister yet. Farmers have decided they won’t go back till govt takes back all three farm laws. It will take more than a month to resolve all issues. Govt will come to us,” said Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait.
We have not received any meeting invitation from Agriculture Minister yet. Farmers have decided they won’t go back till govt takes back all 3 Farm laws. It will take more than a month to resolve all issues. Govt will come to us: Rakesh Tikait, Spokesperson, Bhartiya Kisan Union pic.twitter.com/rNg9GtYxqI
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
10:03 (IST)
Farmers from Maharashtra leave for Delhi to join protests
Thousands of farmers from Maharashtra on Monday left for Delhi from Nashik to join the ongoing agitation by cultivators seeking the repeal of three agri laws passed by the Centre.
The farmers, who started off in private vehicles, were led by leaders of the Kisan Sabha. Before proceeding to Delhi in afternoon, the farmers burnt effigies of Central leaders.
A Kisan Sabha leader said farmers from 21 districts in Maharashtra are on their way to Delhi.
Farmers’ Protest LATEST Updates: The farmer leaders are expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss the next plan of action, said Gurmeet Singh of Krantikari Kisan Union, amid efforts by the unions to draw support from farmers in other states like Bihar for their demand to enact a law assuring Minimum Support Price.
Thousands of farmers from Maharashtra on Monday left for Delhi from Nashik to join the ongoing agitation by cultivators seeking the repeal of three agri laws passed by the Centre.
The farmers, who started off in private vehicles, were led by leaders of the Kisan Sabha. Before proceeding to Delhi in afternoon, the farmers burnt effigies of Central leaders.
A Kisan Sabha leader said farmers from 21 districts in Maharashtra are on their way to Delhi.
He said agriculturists from Maharashtra have been demanding waiving of ‘inflated’ power bills and implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Commiittee.
Their other demands include an aid of Rs 50,000 per acre to those farmers whose crops were damaged due to unseasonal
rains.
Addressing the gathering of farmers, Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha leaders Ashok Dhawale and Ajit Navale criticised
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over the agri laws.
They alleged that the new farm laws were enacted with the sole purpose of benefiting select corporates at the cost of farmers.
The farmers are expected to reach New Delhi, a distance of over 1,200 kms, on 24 December through Mumbai-Agra national highway, a leader said.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.
Multiple rounds of talks held between the government and the protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have failed to break the impasse.