NEW DELHI: Delhi Police removed barricades post-midnight to allow the farmers stopped during the Kisan Kranti Padyatra to enter Delhi and proceed towards Kisan Ghat, said a senior police officer. The farmers entered the national capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made, he added.Thousands of farmers on Tuesday marched towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, blocking traffic movement on arterial roads leading to the national capital.National highways leading to the capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.Police picketed the border with Uttar Pradesh, imposing prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people and holding of any public meeting, usage of any amplifier , loudspeaker, and similar instruments.The Kisan Kranti Yatra, which began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on September 23, was joined by farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh. They came on foot, in buses and tractor trolleys.They carried banners of Bhartiya Kisan Union, which gave the call for the march to press for a series of demands.Their list of demands include unconditional loan waiver for farmers, clearing of dues by sugar mills, higher prices for crops, free electricity for farms and a cut in diesel prices.<doc-sep>We had a discussion on 11 points. Govt agreed on 7 points but didn't agree on 4 points yet. They said they will hav… https://t.co/Z9wS0XGQom — ANI (@ANI) 1538477050000 GHAZIABAD: As thousands of farmers tried to enter the national capital in a massive protest march, the government on Tuesday announced that a committee of chief ministers will look into their demands, even as the protesters stayed put saying they were not "satisfied" with the assurance.After meeting the protesting farmers at the Delhi-UP border here, Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the government was assuring the farmers to take forward their cause. "I assure you all this. We will move court over the NGT order (to ban tractor and vehicles which are more than 10 years old)," he said.On another problem faced by the farmers about farm labour, the minister said the government would look at bringing in some changes to the minimum wage rules for rural areas to solve this problem. "The government has formed a committee of six chief ministers to look into this issue of labour for farm. The committee is in talks to connect MNREGA with agriculture," Shekhawat added. "On behalf of (Union home minister) Rajnath Singh, I assure you that I will represent the farmers' interests in this committee and whatever changes would be required to link MNREGA with agriculture will be made," Shekhawat told the farmers.The protesting farmers, however, decided to stay put at the Delhi border, where they have been stopped by the police from entering Delhi.Naresh Tikait, the chief of Bharat Kisan Union (BKU), which has given the protest call, said the farmers are "not satisfied" with the government's assurance. "We will discuss this and then decide on future course of action. I can't decide anything alone, our committee will take the decision," he added.The farmers were marching towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, but were stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, with police using water cannons to disperse them.The farmers, riding tractors and trolleys, broke barricades of the UP Police and then started proceeding towards the barricades put up by the Delhi Police, a senior police officer said.<doc-sep>On Oct. 02, more than 30,000 farmers came knocking at the doors of India’s capital city, New Delhi. Most of them were from Uttar Pradesh, the politically crucial northern state in India’s Hindi heartland, which hosts the highest number of seats for the national elections next year. The non-violent rally, called by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, began on Sept. 25 from Haridwar, some 200 kilometers north of Delhi and was to end in the national capital on Oct. 02. But the crowds were met with water cannons and tear gas shells, and were beaten with lathis and batons at the borders of Delhi as the Narendra Modi government imposed a curfew to stop them from entering the city. However, when the rally refused to disperse, the government relented at midnight and let them in. The farmers have called off the protest, despite the government not heeding their two main demands—an unconditional loan waiver and the Swaminathan committe-recommended minimum prices for crops. Quartz spoke with a few of the protesting farmers at Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Delhi, where they’re still camping, to understand what drove them to participate in the seven-day rally and even risk their lives. Most of them are sugarcane cultivators from Uttar Pradesh and belong to the upper-caste Hindu community, a demographic that is perceived as the heart of Narendra Modi’s support base. Here are some of their stories: Lessons learned Amreesh Rathi, Chhachhrauli village, Muzaffarnagar Quartz/ Kuwar Singh Like most farmers at the protest, Rathi (42) sells the sugarcane produce from his six-acre farm to the Indian government. But the government has not paid him for this year’s produce. “We are being charged interest on compost, pesticides, and new seeds because we can pay only after we get funds from the produce sale. But the government will never account for this even when they do make the final payment,” he said. Rathi is also defaulting on his bank loan of Rs4 lakh ($5,460). This despite the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in his state had announced a loan waiver for farmers when it came to power in 2017. The scheme, however, comes with several terms and conditions, such that some of the qualifying farmers received waivers of less than Rs1. To make matters worse, the BJP government last year hiked electricity rates in the state in a bid to ensure better power supply in the underdeveloped areas. This, coupled with the sharp increase in fuel prices over the recent months, has weighed heavily on Rathi’s farm operations like running water pumps for irrigation and tilling the fields on tractors. The violent turn to the protests on the outskirts of Delhi has left him further scared. On Oct. 02, the riot police slashed the tyres of the tractor on which Rathi and his colleagues had travelled from their village, to prevent them from attempting to run down the barricades. All this, he says, has taught him two important things: to “save” his three kids from farming by ensuring their school education continues, and to cast his vote for Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a regional party currently part of the national opposition. After all, his 2014 vote for Modi’s BJP hasn’t got him much. In the name of cow, cow dung, and caste Nripjeet Singh, Bhuk Saura village, Rampur Quartz/ Kuwar Singh Last year, 48-year-old Singh pulled out his three children—aged 19, 17, and 14—out of a local private school because he could not afford their education anymore. That hasn’t helped his financial condition much, considering he has an outstanding loan of Rs10 lakh. And the future looks grim. Last month, when Singh left his village to be part of the rally from Haridwar, rains were running havoc on his crops. He has little hope of a good yield this year. “All they have done is politics in the name of cow, cow dung, and caste,” says the farmer, who had also voted for Modi in 2014. Now, he is not sure which political party to support. He does not trust assurances the government made to the farmers and wants an unconditional loan waiver, as well as the implementation of minimum prices for food crops as per recommendations of the 2004-06 Swaminathan commission, a demand successive Indian governments have been rejecting. Fighting for their dreams Rubal Rathi, Muzaffarnagar Five years ago, Rathi, a 23-year-old farmer from Wazirabad village, had to give up his ambitions and was forced into farming. Now, he’s struggling to make his younger sister’s dreams come true. After he graduated from high school, Rathi was not too keen on going to college. He wanted to enlist with the Indian Army. He has twice been a national junior champion in India’s indigenous wrestling sport, kushti. But in 2013, he fractured his knee during a match. Though the injury healed, it permanently disqualified him for employment with the armed forces. Rathi had to join agriculture full-time after his father, now permanently bedridden, was hit by a car while walking back from their farm at night. While he’s made peace with his fate, he wants a better deal for his sister, who is currently studying biology in college. “I could not study because of my father’s condition, but I want her to become a doctor even if we have to sell our land,” he says. Rathi voted for the first time in 2014. His vote went to the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Next year, too, he will stick with his choice, he says. To stay with Modi Hanumant Singh, Mainpur village, Gonda Quartz/ Kuwar Singh “In four years, the Modi government has done nothing for farmers. And GST (goods and services tax) has meanwhile hit the farmers who were also doing business on the side,” the 60-year-old says to describe his disappointment towards the party he voted to power four years ago. In these four years, his financial conditions have only worsened. He too has a pending bank loan of Rs10 lakh. His 30-year-old son works on his farm, and also assists the village doctor—a profession he used to dream of entering—to make some extra money. Singh’s two grandkids study at a local private school and their monthly fee—Rs400 for each—is a constant struggle for the family to meet. The quality of education in the school, Singh feels, is subpar, but the family cannot afford to pay for after-school tuition classes. Despite his condition, Singh feels he will still vote for Modi in 2019. “There is no alternative,” he begrudgingly admits.<doc-sep>
#WATCH Visuals from UP-Delhi border where farmers have been stopped during 'Kisan Kranti Padyatra'. Police use wate… https://t.co/HMr9qWPx0Q — ANI (@ANI) 1538459888000 READ ALSO IN MARATHI NEW DELHI: Farmers marching towards Delhi — as part of the Bharatiya Kisan Union 's (BKU) protest demanding farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices — were stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Tuesday with police using water cannons and firing teargas shells to disperse them.Click here to follow live updates on the farmers' protestThe farmers, riding tractors and trolleys, broke barricades of the UP Police and then started proceeding towards the barricades put up by the Delhi Police, a senior police officer said.Police had to use water cannons to disperse the protesters, who also indulged in sloganeering. Tear gas shells were also fired to disperse the crowd.The police action led to several injuries while one of the protesters lost consciousness, said an agitating farmer. They also claimed that the policemen baton-charged to disperse the protesters.Following the police action, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the farmers should not be stopped from entering the capital. "Farmers should be allowed to enter Delhi. Why are they not being allowed to enter Delhi? This is wrong. We are with the farmers," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.Congress leader Randeep S Surjewala also slammed the highhanded action of the police. "On birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi government has shown that it is no different from the pre-independence British govt in India. British government then used to exploit the farmers and today Modi govt is firing tear gas shells at farmers," he said.National Highways leading to the national capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.Police picketed the border with Uttar Pradesh, imposing prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people and holding of any public meeting, usage of any amplifier, loudspeaker, and similar instruments.In east Delhi, the prohibitory orders issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Singh under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, will be in force until October 8.It covers Preet Vihar, Jagatpuri, Shakarpur, Madhu Vihar, Ghazipur, Mayur Vihar, Mandawli, Pandav Nagar, Kalyanpuri and New Ashok Nagar police station limits.In northeast Delhi, the prohibitory orders were issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur and will be in force till October 4