Bharat Bandh, 8 December 2020: What Will Be Open And Which Services Will Be Affected?

After the fifth round of talks between farmers' leaders and the Centre failed to break the deadlock, farmers have called for a Bharat Bandh or nationwide strike on December 8.

Farmers stage a protest at Singhu border against the Centre's new farm laws, in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

Thousands of farmers are protesting against the Centre’s new agricultural laws for the past 11 days. After the fifth round of talks with the Centre failed, farmers have called a Bharat Bandh on December 8, 2020. The Bharat bandh or the nationwide strike called by the farmers against the farm laws will begin at 11 am and continue till 3 pm on Tuesday, a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said on Monday. The next round of talks between the government and the protesting farmers is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. While farmers have said that they don't want to create problems for the common man, these are the services that will be affected on Bharat Bandh on December 8.

What will be open?

• The All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) today said that the transport sector will function as usual. Issuing a joint statement with traders’ body CAIT, it said that none of the farmer leaders have sought their support on the issue and therefore transporters and traders won’t participate in the nationwide strike.
• Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport or BEST buses will not be part of the ‘Bharat Bandh’ and will remain operational on December 8.
• Transport in Delhi will work as usual as the government issued a notice that none of the major unions are observing Bharat Bandh. However, Commuters could face problems as some auto and taxi unions in the national capital have extended support to the farmers’ call.
• Markets across the country, including Delhi, will remain open and business activities, in general, will continue to remain operational.
• Delhi Traffic Police has issued several alerts for commuters informing them about routes that will remain closed. The police asked them to take alternate routes to avoid discomfort. The police also asked the people of Noida to avoid Noida link road for coming to Delhi and use DND instead.
• Emergency and ambulance, hospital services will not be affected.
• Wedding programs have been allowed and farmers assured that people attending these functions will face no issues.

Which services will be affected?

• Transport Union and Truck Unions in Punjab and Haryana will stop their services in solidarity with the farmers, according to an ANI report.
• Delhi's Azadpur Mandi and all other mandis in the city to remain closed tomorrow, in support of 'Bharat Bandh' call made by farmers: Adil Ahmed Khan, Chairman, Azadpur Mandi
• Bank services are likely to be affected on Tuesday, December 8. A number of bank unions have offered their support to the farmers. In a statement, the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) said that the government should come forward and resolve their demands in the interest of the nation and farmers.
• Farmer leaders have said that the milk and vegetable supply will be affected on December 8. So, people should buy the essentials a day before.
• During the Bandh, which will run from 8 in the morning till evening, mandis will remain closed in several states including Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
• Hotel and Restaurant Association of Punjab has decided to close all hotels, restaurants, resorts, and bars in order to extend support to the protest.

While BJP has slammed the opposition for spreading misinformation about the new Farm Laws, several parties have extended their complete support to the Bharat Bandh.

The parties backing Bharat Bandh

Political parties like the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have supported the Bandh call. The AAP will hold a peaceful demonstration at 11 am at the ITO crossing in the national capital on Tuesday in support of the nationwide strike.

What the government has said

The Centre has projected these three laws - the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 - as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. The government has said that it won’t rollback the laws but has agreed to amend them as demanded by the farmers. Another round of meeting is scheduled for December 9.