Hundreds of farmers who staged a protest march at the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border for hours, ended their action after the Agriculture Ministry promised action on five of their 15 demands.
“A team of farmers went to meet the Agriculture Ministry officials. They agreed on five of the 15 demands. We were told the prime minister and the agriculture minister are not in the city and as soon as they are available, the remaining 10 demands will be discussed,” Rajendra Yadav of the Bharatiya Kisan Sanghathan, which organised the march, told IANS.
The officials agreed to look into the demand for insurance scheme for crops as well as farmers and their families, 14-day payment window for sugarcane, making rivers pollution-free and involvement of farmers in the crop rate determination.
“After our team returned from the meeting, we ended our protest,” Yadav said.
Hundreds of farmers from Uttar Pradesh who headed towards Delhi to highlight their demands, were stopped at the border. Security had been beefed up to deal with any unwanted situation.
The farmers started the march on September 11 in Saharanpur and wanted to end it yesterday at the Kisan Ghat in Delhi. But they were not allowed to enter the national capital.
Other demands of the farmers included free health and education for all, a high court bench in Western Uttar Pradesh, implementation of the Swaminathan panel report and audit of power companies by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
“We are also demanding all loans of farmers should be waived and pension of MPs and MLAs should be stopped,” Yadav said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government after the farmers were not allowed to enter the national capital.
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