New Delhi, The Samyukta Kisan Morcha will submit a memorandum to MPs and MLAs between August 17 and 25, urging them to press the Centre and state governments to change what the farmers’ organisation describes as a “corporate-centric” development policy and address the issues facing farmers and working people.
Farmers Demand Policy Changes in Nationwide Campaign
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), representing various farmer groups, announced that farmer representatives will travel in convoys from villages to deliver a memorandum to elected officials. They are urging MPs and MLAs to advocate for their demands, particularly regarding policies under the ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ framework, which they claim primarily benefit corporate interests.
Key demands include enhancing the federal rights and financial autonomy of states, preventing corporate involvement in agriculture, modernizing farming through productive cooperatives, and promoting industrialization and job creation.
The SKM’s August 10 nationwide ‘Jail Bharo’ campaign engaged farmers, workers, agricultural laborers, students, youth, and women, highlighting their opposition to what they label as “anti-worker and pro-corporate” policies.
The organisation said the memorandum seeks to mobilise elected representatives behind a broader policy shift rather than limiting the campaign to individual farm-sector demands, and urged them to use their positions to press the Centre and states for action on farmers’ livelihoods, employment and social security.
Its seven principal demands include a legal guarantee of MSP at C2 50 per cent with assured procurement, comprehensive farm loan waiver, opposition to the India-US free trade agreement and other FTAs, repeal of the four labour codes, restoration of MGNREGA with 200 days of work at ₹ 700 a day, withdrawal of the electricity privatisation and seed bills, and protection of land rights.
