UP farmers end march after meeting govt officials

New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) After camping at the UP-Delhi border for hours, farmers ended their protest march as the Agriculture Ministry assured action on five of their 15 demands.

"A team of farmers went to meet the Agriculture Ministry officials. They agreed on 5 of the 15 demands. We were told both the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister are not in the city and as soon as they will be available, the remaining 10 demands will be discussed," Rajendra Yadav, UP in-charge of the Bharatiya Kisan Sanghathan, which organised the march, told IANS.

The officials accepted to look into the demand for insurance scheme for crops as well as farmers and their families, 14-day payment window for sugarcane, making rivers pollution-free and involvement of farmers in the crop rate determination.

"After our team returned from the meeting, we ended our protest," Yadav said.

Hundreds of UP farmers, headed towards Delhi to highlight their demands, were stopped at the UP-Delhi border. Security had been beefed up to deal with any unwanted situation.

The farmers had started the march on September 11 in Saharanpur and wanted to end it on Saturday at the Kisan Ghat in Delhi. But they were not allowed to enter the national capital.

Other demands of the farmers included free health and education for all, a high court Bench in Western UP, implementation of the Swaminathan panel report and audit of power companies by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

"We are also demanding all loans of farmers should be waived and pension of MPs and MLAs should be stopped," Yadav said.