In September 2020, amid the pandemic, 3 agriculture bills were signed by President Ram Nath Kovind. These were:  

Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 


Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020

And

Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020

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Passed by the Parliament earlier, these have a far-reaching impact and give too much power to big corporations, leaving the farmers completely at their mercy. 

And to protest against the same, thousands of them have left their homes in Punjab and Haryana, as they march towards the capital to have a dialogue with the government. 

To get an idea of the situation, the ScoopWhoop Unscripted team got on the ground, and here are some of the notable insights it got. 

Firstly, the farmers present at the site address the most common allegation being leveled against them. That they are ‘misguided’. It’s a tool that has been in use for quite some time to silence anyone who speaks against the government. As this person nicely puts:

They also said that the use of water cannons to disperse them isn’t scary for someone who is attached to the soil. 

Plus, they are all together in this, and hence, not scared at all. 

The main problem the farmers have with the bills is that it does away with the concept of mandi, a step the government is justifying by saying that it is getting rid of the middlemen. 

Throwing light on the same, the protesters share that these ‘middlemen’ are actually service providers and very crucial to the process of selling crops. 

However, the forces in disagreement are trying everything in their power. They are saying that the farmers are too rich to be protesting, and alleging that they have been paid by Congress. 

These people have come prepared, though. They have brought ration that will last them for months, they get milk delivered from Punjab everyday, they get newspapers and all of them have left their families with someone they trust. 

I’ll end this with a strong message from a farmer, directly to the PM of the country. 

You can watch the complete video, here: