#ChaloDilli: Over 1 lakh farmers unite in Delhi to bring attention to agrarian crisis

NEW DELHI: Over one lakh farmers and agricultural labourers will take to streets in Delhi on Thursday, marching to the Parliament to bring attention to the agrarian crisis. The two-day Kisan Mukti March – will witness farmers gathering from across the country, pressing for their demands which include debt relief and better minimum support price (MSP ) for crops.

The farmers will assemble at Nizammudin, Bijwasan, Majnu ka Tila, Kishanganj, and Anand Vihar for the rally and congregate at Ramlila Maidan. On Friday, the rally will continue from Ramlila Maidan to the Parliament Street. The overnight camps have been set up at Anand Vihar station, Bijwasan Barat Ghar Saini Mohalla, Nizammudin Gurdwara Shri Bala Sahib Ji and Dum Duma Sahib Gurudwara and Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tila near Delhi University. 

The farmers are demanding a special 21-day session of the Parliament on the agrarian crisis and other related issues such as the implementation of the recommendations made in the Report of the National Commission for Farmers.

Farmers from across the nation gather in Delhi to participate in a 2-day protest from today over their demands, including debt relief and better MSP (minimum support price) for crops; #visuals from Bijwasan. Farmers will today march from different parts of Delhi to Ramlila Maidan pic.twitter.com/wX0B0B6VWd — ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2018

The march is being led by All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) and supported the People's Archive of Rural India (PARI) network. 

“Dilli Chalo has evolved as a direct result of the apathy of not only our nation’s leaders, but also the complicity of indifferent citizens. Those who have profited , dismissed or merely been complacent about the rising inequality in India. Those who have witnessed the deepening misery of the dispossessed, including the death by suicide of well over 300,000 farmers these past 20 years. Grave problems of farmer suicides, deaths of children due to starvation, growing unemployment, increased informalisation, widespread indebtedness, a devastation of the country’s cattle economy and overall precariousness, has led to a collapse of agriculture. And yet we remain unperturbed. This crisis, which is no longer just a measure of loss of land, incomes, jobs and productivity, but of our own humanity demands our attention now,” stated the official website of the farmers' protest march 'Dilli Chalo'. 

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 3 lakh farmers have committed suicide in India between 1995 and 2015.