Indian farmers are prepared to march on Delhi once again

A shutdown was observed in some parts of India on December 30 in support of protesting farmers who are demanding the government implement a legal minimum support price for all farm produce as promised in 2021.

January 02, 2025 by Abdul Rahman
Farmers gathered in March 2024 in New Delhi to demand the government fulfill its commitments to farmers. Photo: AIKS

People in India’s north-western Punjab province observed complete shutdown on Monday, December 30 in support of farmers agitating for a legally guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for their farm products.

The agitating farmers also claim they are once again ready to march to the national capital Delhi in the coming days if their demands are not fulfilled by the government as promised in 2021. The call for a proposed march came as the indefinite hunger strike of one of the farmer leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, entered its 37th day on Wednesday, January 1.

The farmers have been demanding a legal MSP on the basis of the C2+50% formula (total cost of production + 50% profit) recommended by a government appointed committee in the mid 2000s as one of the ways to make agriculture profitable for the farmers in India.

Meanwhile, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a united front of most of the farmers groups who participated in the agitation against three farm laws in 2020-21, declined an invitation by a High Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by India’s top court to join its meeting on January 3.

The committee was formed by the Supreme Court of India (SCI) with the objective of finding ways to resolve the dispute between farmers and the government last September. The SKM reminded the court that it has no role to play in the agitation led by farmers.

“The farmers are fighting on policy issues with the union government hence the court has no role to play” in the matter, SKM said in its press release on Wednesday also underlining that it is officially not a party to the current hunger strike.

The current agitation is led by a breakaway of the SKM calling itself “non-political” as well as other groups organized under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM-Peasant Workers Front). Hundreds of farmers have been sitting near one of the borders of the national capital since February 2024.

BJP government yet again refuses to engage with the farmers

The protest was prompted as the union government led by prime minister Narendra Modi failed to fulfill its promise of a legal MSP three years after it promised to do so in 2021. The charter prepared by farmers includes several other demands as well.

The farmers have tried to enter the capital on previous occasions but the government has used force to stop them. They have declared they will attempt to enter the capital again in the coming days.

History seems to be repeating itself as the Modi-led ultra-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has again refused to engage with the agitating farmers. This government was previously forced to abandon three pro-corporate farms laws it introduced in 2020 following protests that lasted over a year led by the farmers under the leadership of the SKM.

Farmers with SKM have been reminding the government of its promises through protests since then. However, instead of addressing the concerns raised by the farmers the government has tried to shun its responsibility and let the courts interfere in the matter.

On Wednesday, India’s agricultural minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan even said that his government will accept whatever judgment is passed by the SCI in the matter. However, the farmers have made it clear that they will not abide by the court order and continue their agitation until all their demands are met.

Meanwhile, the Modi government has also brought a draft “National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM)” with the objective of creating a “competitive and transparent agricultural marketing ecosystem.” The agitating farmers and the SKM have opposed the move claiming NPFAM to be similar to three farm laws they had opposed and forced the government to withdraw earlier.

SKM and the left-wing All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a part of the SKM, have already organized protests across the country against the NPFAM. SKM has also written to president Draupadi Muru for a meeting to register its opposition to the move.