Two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who were deployed at the Delhi-Haryana Singhu border, where the farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws is going on, have tested positive for coronavirus. According to Delhi Police, both the police officers are under home isolation. Outer North Deputy Superintendent of Police (DCP) Gaurav and Additional DCP Ghanshyam Bansal are the policemen who have tested positive, and the two were heading teams at the Singhu border, where farmers have been put up for the past 16 days.
Meanwhile, mounting pressure on the government, the protesting farmers have said that they will block all toll plazas by December 12 and will sit on a dharna in front of the offices of the District Collector. The farmers have also threatened to block the Jaipur-Delhi highway and Delhi-Agra expressway on Saturday, and have said they plan on escalating the agitation into a nationwide protest on December 14.
After a number of meetings with the farmer leaders resulted in a stalemate, the Union government had come up with an offer to give it in writing that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism will not be done away with. The farmers’ leaders responded by saying there was nothing new in the offer and the farmers’ demands, that the three farm laws be completely repealed, be met
Till now, six rounds of talks have been held between the Union government and the farmers at the Vigyan Bhavan regarding the farm laws but the results have remained inconclusive with farmers rejecting the offers made by the government
Many, including former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal — who wrote to the President returning his Padma Vibhushan, as well as sportspersons have returned their awards to express solidarity with the farmers.
The farmers have been staging protests against three laws — the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 — passed by the Parliament in September.