Protesting farmers to block national state highways for 3 hours on February 6

Farmer unions have announced a nationwide 'chakka jam' on February 6 against the internet ban on their agitation spots and alleged harassment by the authorities. Protesting farmers said they will block national and state highways between 12 PM to 3 PM on February 6, Saturday.

In a press conference at the Singhu border, union leaders seemed disgruntled by the government for "ignoring" them in the Union Budget speech. They accused the government of alleged harassment, as they said that water and power supplies to the protest sites had been curtailed and mobile toilet blocks were also removed from the venues.

Samkyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of protesting unions, alleged that the Twitter accounts of Kisan Ekta Morcha and a user named 'Tractor2Twitter' have been restricted. Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav alleged the action against the Twitter account was taken at the "request of government authorities."

Yadav also claimed that the Centre has "reduced the allocation to agriculture sector" in this year's budget, and, even percentage of allocation has gone down from "5.1 per cent last fiscal to 4.3 per cent this year."

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech on February 1, Monday, expanded the agricultural credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY22. For the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund,  the FM allocated Rs 40,000 crore.

Meanwhile, the fourth 'Mahapanchayat' was held in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor on Monday against the three controversial farm laws.

A Mahapanchayat has also been held in Muzaffarnagar, Mathura, and Baghpat districts of UP since January 28.

Bharatiya Kisan Union national president Naresh Tikait, whose union is protesting at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for over two months now, has called upon all the farmers staging Mahapanchayat in western Uttar Pradesh to reach Ghazipur and give strength to the movement.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Delhi borders for more than two months. They are demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

Also read: Budget 2021: Aviation sector gives thumbs up to leasing tax sops

Also read: Budget 2021: Textile industry welcomes announcement on parks