Several public intellectuals and artists issued a joint statement on Wednesday in support of the joint call by the workers and farmers for a sectoral industrial strike and Grameen Bharat Bandh on February 16.
A total of 34 people signed the joint statement, which appeals to people from all walks of life “to extend all support to this momentous action” of the farmers and the workers.
Effect of Bharat Bandh on February 16?
Various private and government offices and village shops may remain shut on Friday. Besides, transportation, agricultural activities, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) rural works, and rural industrial and service sector institutions are likely to remain closed.
Emergency services such as ambulance operations, marriage, medical shops, schools, etc., will not be affected during the Bharat Bandh on Friday.
Also read | Farmers Protest Highlights: Delhi Police orders 30,000 tear gas shells to prevent Punjab farmers from entering the national capital
What are farmers’ demands?
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a Minimum Support Price for crops based on the Swaminathan formula of C2 50 (input cost of capital 50%), the legal guarantee of procurement, debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff and no smart metres.
They also demanded free 300 units of power for farming for domestic use and shops, comprehensive crop insurance, and a hike in pensions to ₹10,000 per month among others.
Meanwhile, a panel of three Union ministers will hold a meeting with protesting farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday. Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai will meet the farmer leaders at 5 pm today. This will be the third round of talks between the two sides: the previous two rounds of dialogue on February 8 and 12 remained inconclusive.
Farmers from Punjab are camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders of Punjab and Haryana seeking to march towards Delhi to press the Centre to accept their demands.
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