New Delhi: Farmers protesting three agricultural laws say that will begin demonstrating outside Parliament on July 22 as part of a new push to force the government to scrap a set of legislation enacted last year. Farm unions have been holding meetings to work out logistics and finalise strategies to intensify their agitation and coordinate the movement of farmers from various states. According to a plan announced by the SamyuktKisanMorcha (SKM), a platform of farm unions spearheading the protests since November last year against the three laws, nearly 200 farmers will protest outside Parliament every day during the Monsoon session.

The SKM also said that farm organisations and like-minded groups will hold countrywide protests against rising fuel prices on July 8. Parliament is set to convene on July 19 for its upcoming Monsoon session. Farm unions say they will soon dispatch a letter to all Opposition parties and lawmakers, urging them to raise the issue of the three farm laws during the entire session, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader RakeshTikait.Farmers on tractors are likely to file into the Capital on July 21 evening. Accommodation arrangements have been beefed up at all current protest sites, Dharmendra Singh of the BKU said. On January 26, a rally taken out by farmers to celebrate Republic Day turned violent, as protesters clashed with policemen and breached Red Fort in the national capital. Farm unions had then called off a planned march to Parliament.

Cultivators from various towns and villages in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have joined those already protesting in many of sites. A large convoy arrived from PilibhitinUttar Pradesh before moving to various sites on Monday, Dharmendra Singh said.“These farm laws are black laws. They must be taken back. Farmers will be very peaceful while protesting. The violence that broke out during the Republic Day in Delhi was a conspiracy to defame farmers,” said Joginder Singh Urgrahan of the BKU EktaUgrahan group, which represents a large section of farmers in Punjab.

The farmers want three agricultural laws repealed, and say that the legislation will leave them at the mercy of large corporations and jeopardize their livelihoods. The laws, broadly, seek to minimize regulations in the trade of farm produce, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of commodities for future sales and set new national rules for contract farming. The government has said the laws would bring competition and widen farmers’ access to markets. Allowing firms to stock large quantities of food commodities will incentivize them to invest in supply and storage, the government has argued.