NEW DELHI: Even as hundreds of farmers marched to Delhi on Tuesday, farmer associations aligned with RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh stayed away from the protests, calling them “politically motivated” and based on "unethical demands" such as "complete loan waiver and pensions for farmers" which, if accepted, according to senior leaders of the organisation, will do harm to the country's economy.Over 70,000 farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab and other parts of North India marched towards Delhi on Tuesday as part of the Kisan Kranti Yatra that had began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on September 23.The protests were led by Naresh Tikait, son of legendary leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union , Mahendra Singh Tikait. Later in the day, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh also arrived at Ghazipur to support the farmers.BKS Vice president Prabhakar Kelkar told ET that it was impossible for his organisation to participate in the protests as BKU that had organised the protests had made its political ambitions clear."They have openly said they are open to fighting elections. They have had their members contest from Lok Dal earlier. That is not in line with the thinking of BKS. We are associated with the RSS, with grass root farmer organisations and we don't have political aspirations."Additionally, Kelkar added that the two of the nine main demands made by BKU of a monthly pension for farmers and a blanket debt waiver were not agreeable to the BKS.Principally against such steps as farm loan waiver, Kelkar said the BKS favoured providing interest-free loans to farmers, increasing minimum support price and paying subsidies on fertilisers directly to farmers instead of fertiliser companies."The UPA government gave a lot of farm waiver but farm distress still exists. So, what was the use?" he said, adding, "Instead, we have urged the government to create a fund for the insurance of farmers and link it to various APMCs (Agriculture Produce Market Committee) to provide relief to the farmers directly without making him run to government offices and insurance companies. We also feel insurance companies are delaying and also denying payments to farmers which has to be checked," he said.Kelkar also said that there was a serious concern till recently that government-driven procurement was almost negligible in crops such as oilseeds but the new AASHA scheme launched by the centre had the potential to address the gaps in the MSP system and give better returns to farmers.While the BKU has demanded the implementation of a comprehensive old age pension scheme for farmers over the age of sixty, Kelkar said, "Pensions for farmers specifically would disturb the social security cover plans of the government and will 'devalue hard work and promote jealousy' in the society." "It will also bring down the focus on savings detrimental to how an Indian family works," he added.In the past, the BKS has spoken out against various moves by the Modi government, including proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, divesting management control in over a dozen public sector undertakings of (PSUs) and commercialisation of genetically modified mustard crops.BKU general secretary Dharmendra Malik however countered the BMS saying the demand for a blanket debt waiver was justified as they "were just seeking it from the centre for just one time.""This announcement of loan waivers for farmers in every State is making farmers more of defaulters because they wait for the elections to come and then for the promises to be fulfilled. Instead, the centre can do it one time for all farmers, and not leave it to the States. We want the PM to do something revolutionary like what Chaudhary Charan Singh did for farmers when he gave ownership of land from the rich to the poor," Malik said.Malik added that the pension scheme and monthly income for farmers that the BKS was against were important demands necessary for the welfare of farmers. "A major part of the relaxation is taken away by bigger farmers and people running firms allied to agriculture. A farmer today does not even get a monthly income of Rs 18,000 that a class IV employee in the government such as a watchman or an attendant is entitled to. The income for 90 per cent of our farmers is so little that they have no savings, hence a pension scheme for them is necessary."