Farmers who have been protesting at Delhi’s Tikri and Singhu border since the last year in September, have now started preparations to fight against Covid by issuing advisories to protesters to adopt Covid-appropriate behavior. The protestors have oxygen cylinders and concentrators are also being kept handy at the sites.

A woman participant, Baljit Kaur, at Tikri border said that earlier, the speeches were only about the three farm laws, but now various speakers, including the head of Bharti Kisan Union Joginder Singh Ugrahan, have been talking about the spread of the Covid and asking the protestors to take proper precautions including wearing masks, maintaining distance and hand sanitization.

Another protestor Jagsir Singh said the team of doctors arranged by the farm union leaders are advising the protestors to drink hot water, keep throat wet all the time, avoid fasting and use herbs like cardamom, ginger, ajwain etc. while making tea. He informed the reporters that these announcements are made 5-6 times in a day from the stage.

Senior Vice President of BKU (Ugrahan), Bathinda, said whosoever gets sick is immediately attended to by a team of doctors so as to know whether person has any Covid-like symptoms or not and the team of doctors sanitized the protest sites every day. Dr Daler Singh Multani, a retired Civil Surgeon from Fazilka, said that his team has been at Tikri border since December and he has been visiting on and off at the protest site, adding up to 13 trips so far to Tikri border.

Farm activists sanitise the protest site at Tikri while at Singhu border, the Sanyunkt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has set up a makeshift hospital. Several health camps are being set up at the Singhu where people having any ailment are attended to and focus is on sanitation and cleanliness of the area.

The general secretary of BKU (Doaba), Satnam Singh Sahni said that people are being made aware about Covid-19. Also, some oxygen cylinders have been arranged by farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal from Mandi Gobindgarh, added Sahni.

Read Also: Jimmy Asija Showed His Presence at Decode Air Bar – Owned by Narendra Pahuja for the Promotions of MeraFauji Calling

Sahni said it is shame on the Centre ignoring the protesting farmers, who are sitting under high risk of Covid. But Covid spread cannot stop farmers from getting their genuine rights. Even yesterday, 200 vehicles from Doaba region went to Delhi to participate in the protest.

The post Farmers’ protest: Unions ready team of doctors with oxygen against Covid appeared first on APN News.

Many farmer organisations on Wednesday met at Delhi-Haryana borders to decide their strategy after failing the dialogue on Tuesday between the Centre and 32 farm unions on the contentious farm laws against which the farmers are protesting at Delhi borders. Earlier on Tuesday, India’s agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and the minister of Commerce and Industry Som Prakash had spoken to the 32 farm union representatives who were camping at the Delhi borders.

The Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday met with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal at his home to discuss yesterday’s meeting with the farmers. However, the farm union representatives said only the government could end the protest.

Thousands of farmers’ alongwith their representatives from several states camped out on the outskirts of Delhi while some of them have entered Delhi. Moreover, the farmers across the country have started to march towards Delhi to join the protest. All eyes are on December 3 talks as the protest has entered on its seventh day.

On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of farmers gathered at the Noida and Delhi border to stop traffic movement on a key route connecting Uttar Pradesh with the national capital, officials said. Delhi borders were under heavy police deployment as the farmers blocked the Delhi-Noida border two days after the farmers threatened to block five border entry points of Delhi On Sunday.

Following which, the Jhajjar-Bahadurgarh border which connects Delhi to Gurgaon, were closed as precautionary measures, leading to heavy traffic jams in several parts of the city. The Chilla border that links Delhi to Uttar Pradesh through Noida has been closed. The police did multilayered barricading at every point to stop the farmers.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad and Jan Adhikar Party chief Pappu Yadav alongwith hundreds of his supporters joined the farmers protest at the Delhi-Ghazipur border and demanded that the contentious farms laws be withdrawn immediately. Also, Bilkis Dadi, the face of months-long Shaheen Bagh’s anti-CAA protest was stopped by the Delhi Police at the Singhu Border where thousands of farmers have been protesting. Police have also used water cannons at protesting Punjab Youth Congress workers in Chandigarh during a protest in front of the Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence, demanding an apology from him for alleged use of force against protesting farmers.

Also Read: Talks with farmers fail, Congress demands winter session of Parliament

However, the farmer representatives briefed the media that they had decided not to go back to their home until the government fulfills their demands. The Aam Aadmi Party said in an official statement that the laws have already been passed in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and have been signed by the president. No state has the power to independently implement or reject these laws.

The post Farmers hold meeting at Singhu border after talks with Centre fail, all eyes on tomorrow’s dialogue appeared first on APN News.

The meeting between farmer representatives and the Central government remained inconclusive on Tuesday as both parties failed to come to an understanding. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the meeting was good and the government will continue its dialogue with the protesting farmers. The next dialogue between protesters and the government will taken place on December 3. Farmer representatives said they will continue to explain to the government why the farmers feel that none of the changes introduced in the farm laws will benefit them.

Earlier today, the 32 farm unions accepted Centre’s offer to hold talks as their protest entered its sixth consecutive day. A large contingent of farmers are stationed on several points of entry into Delhi in a bid to convince the Centre to repeal the laws.

The delegations arrived statewise for discussions with farmers from Punjab arriving at Vigyan Bhawan for a dialogue with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal. Later, the government held meetings with delegations from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Earlier on Sunday, the farmers had rejected the Centre’s offer after the government had stressed them to move to the Burari grounds in New Delhi

Before meeting the farmers, Tomar had said that the government is ready to resolve the farmers issue but talks cannot happen on roads and the farmers needed to sit across the table to find a solution to the problem. The decision to hold talks with farmers have come after the Centre’s decision that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold talks with farmers. Earlier on Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Tomar met at BJP chief JP Nadda’s residence for a second meeting to resolve the issue.

Addressing the farmers at Ghazipur-Ghaziabad border, Naresh Tikait, the president of Bharatiya Kisaan Union, said the farmers want a final decision on matter. However, some groups are upset with the government’s decision. Punjab Kisan Sangarsh Committee’s joint secretary Sukhvinder S Sabhran said that there are more than 500 groups of farmers in the country, but the Centre has invited only 32 groups for talks.

The protesters have got worldwide support from celebrities, actors, singers and political leaders. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday extended his support to farmers. He said Canada would always be there to defend the rights of the farmers and believe in the process of dialogue. He assured the farmers that he would try to reach out to the Indian authorities to highlight and raise their concerns. The Ministry of External Affairs has not taken Trudeau’s remarks well.

Police detained Bilkis Bano, 82, who emerged as the face of Shaheen Bagh’s anti-Citizenship Act protest, as she was reaching Singhu border to join farmers’ protest. She said she wanted to join the farmers to express her solidarity since she was a farmer’s daughter. She said the government should listen to the farmers.

Also Read: BJP Haryana ally warns Centre over farmer protests, Ajay Chautala demands solution

The farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, are protesting since last week against the newly passed farm laws. They have been camping in and around Delhi demanding that the laws should be repealed by the Centre.

The post Finally, Centre, farmers talk, next meeting on Thursday appeared first on APN News.