A large number of farmers left here on Saturday to join the “Delhi Chalo” march in protest against the Centre’s agriculture sector laws. The farmers, who gathered at the Central Park here, raised slogans against the NDA government’s policies, which they said had put the peasants and marginal farmers at a disadvantage.
Addressing the gathering, Kisan Mahapanchayat president Rampal Jat said the farmers from Rajasthan would raise the demand for guaranteed minimum support prices for four crops primarily grown in the State as a measure to protect agriculturists. He said more than 40% of the country’s moong, millet, barley and mustard were produced in the State.
The All India Kisan Sabha has mobilised farmers from Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Sikar districts to join the agitation. The farmers held demonstrations in several towns in the three districts on Saturday with the demand for the withdrawal of the farm Acts, while a group of protesters left Sriganganagar for Delhi in the morning.
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Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reiterated his call to the Centre to initiate a dialogue with the agitating farmers and fulfil their demands. Mr. Gehlot said while the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate had contracted by 7.5% for the second quarter of 2020-21, the agriculture sector had registered a positive growth rate of 3.4%.
“Our farmers are making a positive contribution to economy at this difficult juncture but the Narendra Modi government is taking repressive measures against them,” he tweeted. The Congress government has passed three Bills in the Assembly to stop the applicability of the farm laws through the amendments making the Central Acts ineffective in certain respects.