Angry Indian farmers march on parliament to denounce their plight

Saturday, 1 December 2018 00:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Farmers march towards the parliament house during a rally to protest

soaring farm operating costs and plunging prices of their produce, in New Delhi, 30 November – Reuters

NEW DELHI (Reuters): Tens of thousands of Indian farmers and rural workers marched to the parliament in the capital, New Delhi, on Friday in a protest against soaring operating costs and plunging produce prices that have brought misery to many.

The protest is one of the biggest displays of frustration with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which faces a tough general election due by May next year. India’s 263 million farmers make up an important voting bloc.

“Farmers have been routinely committing suicide,” said one of the protest leaders, Yogendra Yadav, as he marched in a crowd down a central Delhi thoroughfare. “It’s a shame that the government doesn’t have any time for those who feed us,” said Yadav, who leads the Jai Kisan Andolan, a farmers’ group.

Low food prices, export curbs, anti-inflation policies that keep rural incomes low and a broad shift from subsidies to investment spending have all infuriated and demoralised farmers.

Agriculture contributes about 15 percent to India’s $2.6 trillion economy, Asia’s third-largest, but employs nearly half of its 1.3 billion people.

Farmers from more than 200 groups began gathering in New Delhi on Thursday. They are demanding that the government call a special session of parliament to discuss the crisis in the countryside.