A farmer arrives at Shambhu on the Punjab-Haryana border on a tractor to participate in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, in Ambala, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
After talks with the Centre government remained inconclusive, farmers from Punjab in ‘tractor-trolley’ convoys started their march on February 13 as they plan to lay siege to Delhi, to press for fulfillment of their demands, even as the Haryana government has put in place elaborate security arrangements with multi-layer barricades to stop their entry from neighbouring Punjab as they intend to reach Delhi via Haryana.
In Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib on Tuesday, ahead of the start of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said that during the meeting with the Union Minister on Monday night, farmers made sincere efforts to find a solution to avoid any confrontation with the government. “We were hoping to get something, a decision in our favour and hence participated in the meeting which lasted for around five hours. We raised the matter of Haryana in the meeting, pointing out that police and other officials are going to every village in Haryana to scare people and pressure them to not participate in the agitation,” he said.
The KMM and the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) had announced the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by more than 200 farmers’ unions on tractor-trolleys.
Mr. Pandher added the government did not have any proposal, and they appeared to only ‘kill time’. The meeting was attended by Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda and officials.
Thousands of farmers and farm labourers, who had gathered in Fatehgarh Sahib from different parts of Punjab on their tractor-trolleys, have started their journey to Delhi to join the proposed march.
