Last Updated: February 16, 2024, 08:02 IST
Farmers Protest News Updates: Explore the latest updates on Bharat Bandh and the Farmers Protest, including the impact on Haryana, Punjab, and Delhi. Stay informed about the nationwide strike today and find out what will be closed on 16 February
Farmers Protest, ‘Delhi Chalo’ March: Security continues to be up on inter-state borders between Punjab and Haryana on the fourth day on Friday (February 16), with protesting farmers adamant about heading to the national capital for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. Several farmers’ unions, including the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), have called for a Gramin Bharat Bandh today. The SKM has asked all the like-minded farmer organisations and trade unions to come forward and participate in the day-long protest beginning from 6 am to 4 pm. Protestors will do ‘chakka jam’ on major roads across India from 12 pm to 4 pm. Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, the national president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Charuni in Haryana, has also called upon farmers to take control of all toll plazas in the state from 12 noon to 3 p.m. today to protest the police action against the agitating farmers who have gathered along Punjab borders. Meanwhile, a marathon meeting between three Union ministers and leaders of protesting farmer unions concluded without a resolution in Chandigarh late on Thursday with Union Minister Arjun Munda asserting that the discussion was “positive and another round of talks would be held on Sunday.
Demands of 2024 Farmers Protest
Several farmer associations– mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab– are starting their protest march today to demand a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP), one of the conditions they had set when they agreed to withdraw their agitation against the now-repealed farm laws in 2021. Apart from that, they are also seeking implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.