At least 22 protesters have died during the farmers’ protests on Delhi borders over the past 20 days, said Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a senior representative of farmers’ bodies.

He said most of the death occurred due to cold wave conditions as protesting farmers have been exposed to the extreme weather condition at Tikri and Singhu borders.

Farmers have been protesting against the ‘farm sector reform’ initiated by Narendra Modi-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The new reform would benefit the corporate sector and not the farming community.

“It is shocking that after 20 days of farmers; protests in the bitter winter of Delhi, the government continues to stick to the ‘no repeal’ stand,” Deccan Herald quoted Congress leader P Chidambaram.

The minimum temperature of the Indian capital on Tuesday morning was 4.4 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, India’s Supreme Court has offered to set up a mediation panel to end a three-week protest by tens of thousands of farmers demanding the repeal of new agricultural laws.

The court on Wednesday sent notices to the government and the farmers’ representatives across the country seeking their views on the proposal and set Thursday for a possible decision.

The farmers have been blocking half a dozen major highways on the outskirts of New Delhi for three weeks and say they won’t leave until the government quashes what they call the “black laws” passed by the parliament in September.