With cranes and excavators, Indian farmers prepare to march on capital
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Transcript
00:00 Tear gas and flash grenades as police try to disperse a crowd of angry farmers from a highway several hours north of New Delhi.
00:08 A convoy of tractors stretching back for miles as the farmers seek to make their way to the capital to demand higher prices for their crops.
00:17 Police have managed to hold them off so far with a blockade of concrete barriers and barbed wire.
00:22 Farmers though say their equipment can and will break through if necessary.
00:27 "The government should remove the barricades and give us permission to go hold a demonstration in the capital.
00:38 If they're not willing to let us proceed, then they should fulfill our demands."
00:45 The Indian government currently guarantees prices on staples like rice and wheat.
00:50 Farmers though want those minimums extended to all crops along with loan forgiveness and pensions for those over 60.
00:57 This week they rejected a new offer for five-year contracts and an expansion of the price minimums to corn, cotton and pulses.
01:06 The protests threaten a repeat of the massive uprising two years ago as farmers surrounded the capital,
01:12 eventually forcing the government to repeal laws aimed at deregulating India's agricultural commodities market.
01:19 Nearly 70% of India's 1.4 billion people make their living from agriculture,
01:25 giving farmers outside's political power through sheer numbers.
01:29 The sector though is in economic difficulty with wages stagnant and suicides widespread.
01:35 It accounts for less than 20% of the country's economy.