Farmers to use public transport to reach Delhi on Wednesday; give ‘rail roko’ call for March 10

Farmers’ protest: Tens of thousands of farmers are reportedly planning to use public transport to reach Delhi on Wednesday. This comes after talks between the farmers unions and the government reached a roadblock, with no seeming headway. Farmers have been blocking highways and protesting as they dial up the pressure on the government to meet their demands.

According to a report in Bloomberg, the farmers are resorting to using public transport as Delhi borders have been sealed for them and they are not allowed to enter the city on tractors. The police also dropped tear gas shells to dispense the crowd. A farmers group issued a statement saying that since they cannot reach Delhi on tractors, they will travel by bus and train. 

Meanwhile, farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal gave a call to the farmers for a four hour ‘rail roko’ movement on March 10. They also asserted that the ongoing agitation would be intensified at the existing protest points. The ‘rail roko’ protest will be conducted from 12-4 pm on March 10. 

The leaders were speaking at the Balloh village, native village of a farmer who died during the clashes with Haryana security personnel in Khanauri. 

As per the plan, farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue to support the ongoing agitation at Shambhu and Khanauri border points, the farmers from other states would reach Delhi on March 6 to press for their demands. 

Pandher said as farmers use public transport, it will also become clear whether the government allows them to enter Delhi without tractors. He also urged Punjab panchayats to pass a resolution in support of the farmers' demands and to ensure that a tractor trolley from every village reaches the protest border points.

The farmers are demanding a law guaranteeing MSP, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm loan waiver, no increase in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases, justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation for families of farmers who lost their lives during the 2020-21 agitation.