Farmers’ outfits urge MPs, MLAs to speak out against trade deals; seek scrapping of all FTAs

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a collective of farmers' organizations, has urged MPs and MLAs to oppose proposed trade deals, specifically the India-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and demand the repeal of all existing FTAs. Citing deep agrarian distress, the SKM's memorandum also calls for an Act guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) as recommended by the M. S. Swaminathan Commission, a comprehensive loan waiver, compensation for farmer suicides, scrapping of Labour Codes, reforms in MGNREGA, and withdrawal of the draft Electricity Bill, Seeds Bill 2025, and draft National Food Security Act. The farmers allege that FTAs lead to economic colonization and threaten India's food self-reliance, further expressing concern over a corporate duopoly in FCI grain silos.