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The industry body, CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) on 14^th December 2020, stated, that “the current strike carried out by farmers has led to supply chain disruptions, and if it continues for long, it may impinge upon the ongoing recovery from the economic contraction due to COVID-19”.

Well, we are aware of the current strike carried out by the farmers against the New Agriculture Bill. The strike is going on for the last few days, in fact, today is the 20^th day of the strike. This strike has led to obstructions of traffic and road blockades across multiple checkpoints in the northern states of Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, and in the smaller measure in many other states.

Due to this strike, around two-thirds of consignments in transit are taking 50 percent extra time to reach their destinations in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi-NCR, as reported by the chamber. It further stated that the already broken supply chain, because of lockdown and COVID pandemic is already trying hard to recover post lockdown. And at this time if such kind situation will rise and continue for long, then it would be difficult to restore the normal supply chain. The supply is already suffering severe stress.

In addition, transport vehicles are forced to travel up to 50 percent longer to reach Delhi from the warehouses in Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Punjab. This may push logistics costs by up to 8-10 percent.

Many companies are facing a shortage of labor that is located in the industrial belt near Delhi, this is because people are hardly finding ways to reach production facilities from neighboring towns, due to the strike.  

The chairman of CII in the northern region, Nikhil Sawhney said, “An immediate solution to this ongoing farmer’s agitation is the need of the hour, as long as the strike continues, it will impact not only the economic growth but also put a huge dent on a supply chain that is already affecting the small and big industries alike”.

The chamber observed that the effect of the agitation is more acute for industries in hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu, and Kashmir which are dependent on goods transported by road. There is also uncertainty around the transportation of farm products to the major markets of Delhi-NCR and it could lead to significant losses to the farm sector in these states, it said.

The Chamber in fact said that the Tourism Industry will also be affected on a high scale if eth strike continues as the same for the long-term. It said, “Tourism, a major revenue and livelihood source in these states, is likely to get adversely impacted at a crucial time when the sector is looking forward to regaining some momentum following the unlocking of the economy”

Well, in between all this, on the 14^th December 2020, farmers participating in the strike, went on a day-long hunger strike their colleagues demonstrated in different parts of the country to push for a rollback of the new farm laws.

However, on the 19^th day of the protest, Central Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomer said “the government is engaging with the farmers to decide on the next date of talks.

Here the point is that Farmer’s protest is getting intensified day-to-day, which means the government has to take quick action to end this protest, or either it may prove an obstruction in the way to reestablish the Indian Economy.

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