Thousands of workers and farmers have congregated in Delhi, to participate in the Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally in protest against the “anti-people policies of the Centre.”
Among the demands being raised by the protesters are debt waivers for farmers, guarantee of minimum wage and stricter enforcement of labour laws.
The march is being organised jointly by CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions), AIKS (All India Kisan Sabha) and AIAWU (All India Agriculture Workers Union), along with organisations and unions affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Starting from Ramlila Maidan, the protest march went to Parliament Street, and will later reach Jantar Mantar.
The 5 September protest by workers and farmers in Delhi will not be the last rally, the organisers had said on Tuesday, warning that they would intensify their struggle against the "anti-people" policies of the Centre.
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CITU general secretary Tapan Sen had told reporters on Friday, 31 August:
Farmers and workers will jointly participate in a rally against the government. And it will not be the last one of our efforts.
CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen
Meet the Protesting Farmers
32-year-old Jayshree Deshmukh has covered a distance of 1216 kilometres in nearly 24 hours to participate in the Kisan-Sangharsh mazdoor rally.
(Photo: The Quint)
I have been working as an Asha worker for the last 10 years. We started working on contractual basis under NRHM. An Asha worker is not entitled to monthly pay. If we take a pregnant woman to a hospital during labour, we are paid Rs 600. I work in Akola’s Gorad village. The village’s population is at 700. Sometimes, there is not a single delivery for months in the village.I have not earned more than Rs 2,000 in the last 10 years. My husband is a farmer. I face a lot of hurdles in running my house. We want the government to give us a permanent job with a fixed monthly pay.
Why Are Farmers from Hissar Protesting?
It was no less than a challenge for Shamsher Punia and his 20 fellow farmers from Hissar to participate in the protests. They collected money to come to Delhi with the help of farmer’s donation.
(Photo: The Quint)
The government has crushed the farmers of this country. This government is celebrating the Fasal Beema Yojana but the the scheme has more caused farmers more damage than helping them. Every year, money is deducted from our accounts in the name of this scheme. In the cases of crop failure, we do not even get compensated.This way, the price of fertilisers and seeds is increasing every year. Recently, the government has deducted from five kilos from the bags of DAP and urea. They have further increased the price. What do we earn and eat in such a situation.
Shamsher Punia to The Quint
Shankar Waghmare is a labour who has walked from Nashik to Delhi. He does not have a stable livelihood. After the Kharif crop is harvested, he has to sit idle for months. He used to get a lot of assistance from MNREGA earlier.
(Photo: The Quint)
The work under MNREGA for our taluka is in doldrums. In addition to this, we do not even get the ration from government. We are very worried.We walked to Mumbai first from Nashik with our demands. The government had promised us then to fulfill our demands. The government still hasn’t fulfilled our demands even after all these years. This is why we have come to Delhi now.
Shankar Waghmare
(With inputs from PTI.)
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