Thousands of farmers march through India’s capital demanding debt waivers and minimum prices for crops
- As many as 30,000 people reached the protest ground on Thursday more than 4 kilometres from India’s parliament in the heart of New Delhi
Thousands of farmers protested in India’s capital demanding debt waivers and remunerative prices for crops, underscoring challenges Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces before national elections next year.
As many as 30,000 people representing about 200 farmer organisations reached the protest ground on Thursday more than 4 kilometres from India’s parliament in the heart of New Delhi.
They plan to march to parliament on Friday. The farmers are demanding a special session of parliament to ensure minimum crop prices and a nationwide waiver of farm loans amid rising costs of fertilisers and agricultural inputs.
Keeping a key election promise made in 2014, Modi earlier this year approved a 50 per cent return over the cost of production. Still, prices of crops including rice, pulses and oil seeds in some wholesale markets are below the government-set rates. Lower prices, combined with inadequate government purchases, have triggered the protests.
“The calculation of support price that the government fixes is erratic and erroneous,” said Darshan Pal, a rice and wheat farmer from the northern state of Punjab, who is taking part in the protest. “The government should include actual rent of land, interest on capital invested and skilled labour rate while calculating the cost of cultivation of various crops.”