Farmers Movement Archive

15,000 tractors, 170 km: All you need to know about the farmers' tractor rally

Marking a symbolic protest against the three contentious farm laws, thousands of farmers will enter the national capital on the country's 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday after camping on Delhi's border for nearly two months now.Farmer leaders said the tractor parade will remain peaceful will not affect the official Republic Day parade in any way.With barely 36 hours to go, the plans for the tractor rally have been set in motion on Sunday after Delhi Police granted formal approval to the agitating farmers by stamping certain restrictions.Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have been camping at Delhi's borders for several weeks in bitter cold, demanding the repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for crops.Here is all you need to know about the upcoming Tractor Rally by farmers:Why are the farmers protesting:The protests - longest such demonstration in decades of independent India - will soon enter their third month and show no signs of abating as the farmers have refused to halt them. They are protesting against the three farm laws passed by Parliament in September which essentially change the way India’s farmers do business by creating free markets, as opposed to a network of decades-old, government marketplaces, allowing traders to stockpile essential commodities for future sales and laying down a national framework for contract farming.These laws are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.The farmers claim these laws will benefit big corporate houses. The government has, however, tried to allay these fears and even said that it is ready to discuss changes to the law. The government has made it clear that it won’t scrap these laws.

Hindustan Times

24-01-2021

India