The Indian government has invited protesting farmers to enter into talks, seeking to allay concerns about new laws that producers fear could pave the way for the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed prices, leaving them at the mercy of private buyers.
Tens of thousands of people have been taking part in demonstrations in New Delhi as they fear that new laws will put an end to the minimum prices guaranteed by the government.
“We are on one of the two national highways that are completely closed upon entering Delhi, because tens of thousands of farmers are camping here with hundreds of vehicles,” said Elizabeth Puranam of Al Jazeera, reporting from New Delhi.
“Because of this, there is a huge disruption in the Indian capital,” he said, adding that hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel in riot gear were deployed nearby.
The protests have intensified since last week when farmers arrived by trucks, buses and tractors at Delhi’s Singhu border with Haryana state and blocked the main northern highway to the capital.
Small producers fear that the new laws will make them vulnerable to competition from large companies and that they may eventually lose support for the prices of basic products such as wheat and rice.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi resisted calls for repeal of agricultural reforms, saying that farmers were being misled and that the new laws would benefit them.
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