New Delhi: Farmers agitating against the Centre’s new agri laws said Thursday they will block railway tracks if their demands are not met. The farmer leaders said they will announce soon the date on which the railway tracks will be blocked. Currently the agitating farmers have blocked a number of roads leading into Delhi.
Farmer leaders addressed reporters at the Singhu border. It is the same place where they have been protesting for almost two weeks to demand a rollback of the law. The farmer unions also reiterated that they will intensify their agitation and start blocking all highways leading to the national capital.
“We will block railway tracks if our demands are not met. We will decide on the date and announce it soon,” farmer leader Boota Singh said at the press conference. “The Centre has admitted that laws have been made for traders. If agriculture is a state subject, Central government does not have right to make laws on it,” added Balbir Singh Rajewal, another farmer leader.
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Thousands of farmers have been protesting at various border points for almost two weeks seeking a repeal of the new laws. They claim that the new laws were aimed at benefitting corporate. The agri laws will weaken the mandi system and the minimum support price (MSP) regime for procurement of farm produce, the farmers has said.
Meanwhile Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the government is ready for fresh discussions. “I have told the farmers’ union leaders to give in writing the objections they have to the new agri laws. The government is ready to discuss and clear the doubts in the minds of the farmers,” Tomar informed.
