Delhi Metro to keep extra vigil at 7 stations in wake of farmers protest
In the wake of farmers' protest at the Parliament, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has directed the authorities to put seven metro stations on alert. According to the details, these seven metro stations may also be shut, if the protests by farmers turn violent. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions, has planned that around 200 farmers will hold protests outside parliament every day during the monsoon session.
The leaders have not commented on whether they have permission to hold demonstrations outside parliament but have maintained that the protests will be "peaceful".
Earlier, the Delhi Police had informed the Delhi Metro that protesters may reach Parliament through metro trains, following which the DMRC has now decided to put authorities on alert.
The seven metro stations that may be shut for farmers' protest are Janpath, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mandi House and Udyog Bhawan.
Meanwhile, officials of the Delhi Police on Sunday met a delegation of farmers, ahead of their planned protest in front of the parliament during its monsoon session to demand scrapping of the contentious farm laws and a legal guarantee on MSP.
A tractor parade in Delhi on January 26, that was to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws, had dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.
The SKM had earlier said at a press conference that two days before the monsoon session begins, a "chetavani patra" (warning letter) will be issued to all opposition MPs to protest the farm laws inside the House.
Thousands of farmers from across the country have been agitating at the Delhi borders against the three farm laws that they claim will do away with the Minimum Support Price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
