1,800 days, no promises kept: SKM calls farmers back to streets on 26 Nov

• SKM announces protests in Delhi and 100 centres on 26 November.

• Farmers' body accuses Centre of failing to honour assurances given after the 2020-21 agitation.

• Organisation renews demands for a legal MSP guarantee, loan waiver and repeal of the Labour Codes.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced a fresh round of protests on 26 November, with demonstrations planned in Delhi and 100 centres across the country, accusing the Narendra Modi government of failing to honour assurances made to farmers after their year-long agitation in 2020-21.

In a statement issued on Friday, 13 November, the farmers' organisation said the government had given it written assurances on 9 December 2021 on a committee to examine the minimum support price (MSP), withdrawal of cases against protesters, compensation for the families of farmers who died during the agitation, and consultation with stakeholders before bringing in any Electricity Bill.

The SKM said none of these commitments had been fulfilled, nearly 1,800 days after the assurances were given. It said the 380-day agitation, which ended after 756 farmers had died, was called off on the basis of the government's written undertaking.

The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Kisan Tak Bharat Agriculture Conference on 12 November. In his address, Modi highlighted India's agricultural growth and production, and called for greater use of technology and diversification of farm incomes.

The SKM accused the PM of presenting an incomplete picture of the farm sector, arguing that record production figures did not necessarily translate into better returns for cultivators. It said farmers were producing more but were not receiving remunerative prices for their crops.

The organisation also questioned the composition and functioning of the committee set up by the Centre to examine MSP. It said the committee, constituted in July 2022, had 29 members, 18 of whom were government officials or experts associated with state institutions. The SKM objected to the appointment of former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal as its chairperson, arguing that he had defended the now-repealed farm laws during the negotiations with protesting farmers.

The committee's formation, the SKM said, had not resulted in a law guaranteeing MSP to farmers.

The organisation also challenged the government's claims on fuel prices and the relief offered to farmers through the PM-KISAN scheme. It cited the diesel price in Delhi, which stood at Rs 95.20 per litre on 13 November, and said the cost of fuel continued to burden cultivators.

The SKM argued that the annual PM-KISAN payment of Rs 6,000 amounted to only around Rs 16 a day for a farming household. It said a farmer cultivating two hectares and using 180 litres of diesel in a season would lose Rs 1,260 to a Rs 7-per-litre increase alone.

The statement further accused the government of overstating the performance of the agricultural sector. It disputed Modi's claim of four per cent farm growth, citing official economic data, and argued that growth in agricultural output had not translated into higher farm incomes.

On crop prices, the SKM cited soybean prices of Rs 3,400-3,900 per quintal in Maharashtra, against an MSP of Rs 4,892, and cotton prices of Rs 6,200-6,300 against an MSP of Rs 7,122. It also flagged a decline in India's farm trade surplus and rising cotton imports.

The organisation invoked the latest National Crime Records Bureau figures, which recorded 10,546 suicides among people engaged in the farming sector in 2024, including 4,633 farmers and cultivators and 5,913 agricultural labourers. Maharashtra accounted for the highest number of such deaths, with 3,824, according to the figures cited by the SKM.

The SKM also raised the issue of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which four farmers were killed after being run over by an SUV in October 2021. It criticised the Supreme Court's decision to allow Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the case, to visit his hometown for Diwali while the trial remained pending. The organisation said 64 prosecution witnesses were yet to be examined.

For the 26 November mobilisation, the SKM has listed seven demands, including a law guaranteeing MSP at 50 per cent above the comprehensive cost of production (C2), with assured procurement; a comprehensive loan waiver; Rs 25 lakh compensation for every family bereaved by a farmer's suicide; pensions and insurance; and an end to electricity privatisation.

It has also demanded that the government withdraw the Seed Bill, 2025, protect the land rights of farmers and tribal communities, and reject the India-US free trade agreement and other free trade agreements. The organisation has called for the repeal of the four Labour Codes and restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The proposed mobilisation will coincide with the sixth anniversary of the farmers' protest at Delhi's borders, which began on 26 November 2020 against the three farm laws. The laws were repealed in November 2021, but the SKM says its remaining demands have yet to be met.