The director-general of police in Harayana says approximately 25 farmers have died mainly because of exposure to frigid temperatures while protesting the government's new agriculture laws.
Farmers have been camped out for over three weeks in the streets of Harayana and India's capital, New Delhi, demanding the government revoke three agricultural laws it passed back in September.
According to police, among the 25 confirmed deaths are 10 people who died in a road accident while traveling from Punjab, where most of the protesting farmers are from, to Delhi, where farmers unions and the government are holding talks to de-escalate the situation.
However, a member of India's farmer's union, Darshan Pal, told Al Jazeera that the actual death toll " could be as high as 35."
The three laws that have sparked more than a month of outrage are according to the government supposed to improve India's farming industry by shifting from a protectionist model of business, where the government sets a minimum price for companies to buy produce, to a free-market model where farmers and private corporations independently hash out how much crops are needed and for what price.
Farmers fear that such a policy could lead to the monopolization of their industry which could then allow corporations to set low prices and drive small family farms out of business.
By: Niza Nondo
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