Farmers protesting against farm laws | Photo credit: PTI
Noida: Farmers protesting Sunday left the causeways on the Noida-Delhi link via Chilla after an overnight meeting with Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Narendra Tomar.
Officials said normal traffic resumed between Noida and Delhi via the Chilla border after farmers vacated the place they had been occupying since December 1 for their demonstration.
Movement on the DND and Kalindi Kunj routes, which connect Delhi and Noida, was also normal, they said.
However, the protest continued at the border and some members of the Bharatiya Kisan (Bhanu) Union, including its chief Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, remained in Chilla.
Farmers left the roads around midnight Saturday after a meeting with Defense Minister Singh and Agriculture Minister Tomar, a BKU (Bhanu) official said.
“Rajnath ji listened to our demands and agreed to take the discussions further and resolve the issues. We were convinced and decided to vacate the road. However, this does not mean that our protest is over,” Satish Tomar, senior member of the TI Cell of the BKU (Bhanu), told PTI by phone.
He said protesting farmers were conducting a ‘havan’ on the Chila border on Sunday and that the further course of action would be clear overnight.
At Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida, near the Chilla border, another group of farmers belonging to the BKU (Lok Shakti) is organizing a protest against the new laws. Some of the group members had their heads tonsured on Saturday and had previously been semi-naked during their protest.
These protesters have gathered on the Noida border and want to go to Delhi to join the great commotion called by the farmers of Punjab and Haryana.
Thousands of farmers are currently on Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers’ Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee and Agricultural Services, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.
They have expressed their fear that these laws will pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of large corporations.
However, the government has argued that the new laws will provide better opportunities for farmers and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
Government officials said efforts are being made for the next round of talks between representatives of the Center and farmers so that the traffic jam on the new laws can end.
