Farmers protesting against the Centre's new agricultural laws at Delhi border points on Monday said they have come to the national capital for a "decisive battle" and asserted that they will continue their agitation until their demands are met.

Addressing a press conference at Singhu border, a representative of protesting farmers said that they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to their "mann ki baat'.

"Our demands are non-negotiable," he said and claimed the ruling party 'will have to pay a heavy price' if it does not heed to their concerns.

We have come here to fight a decisive battle," he said.

Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that around 31 cases have so far been registered against protestors to "suppress" their agitation.

Chaduni said that farmers will continue their agitation until their demands are met.

The desperation of the protesting groups is such that they are more worried about the new laws than the Coronavirus that is wreaking havoc across the world.

Amid fears that the 'Delhi Chalo' protests by farmers will lead to coronavirus spreading faster, their leaders said the black laws enacted at the Centre are a bigger threat than the contagion.

There had been few signs of social distancing as thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana began their protest last week against the three new agro-marketing laws, setting off on a march to the national capital.

On the way, they skirmished with police at barricades and since Friday are massed at Delhi's entry points, many of them sheltering inside tractor-trolleys.

Masks appear to be a rarity and there is little attempt at keeping a distance from each other, safeguards meant to prevent the infection from spreading.

But as experts fear that the event could become a coronavirus superspreader, farm leaders say there are more pressing concerns before them.

"The new farm laws brought by the (Narendra) Modi government are a bigger threat than coronavirus as farmers fear they will lose their livelihood with the implementation of these laws," Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan told PTI over the phone.

Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher asked why coronavirus posed a serious threat to life only during the farmers' agitation, and not during the recent Bihar assembly polls.

"When Bihar elections took place, where was COVID-19? When any political gathering takes place, where is coronavirus?" he asked, in an apparent reference to the election rallies.

He claimed that the issue comes up only when farmers begin agitation for their rights.

The Delhi Police initially declined permission for the farmers' protest in the city, citing the threat of COVID-19.

On Sunday, Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar lashed out at his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh, saying he will be responsible if the gathering of farmers worsens the coronavirus situation. Singh has backed the protest.

A spokesperson for the BKU's Haryana unit led by Gurnam Singh Charuni on Monday claimed that farmers are trying their best to keep COVID-19 at bay.

As much as we can, we are trying to follow the guidelines. But at the moment thousands of farmers are saying that getting the Centre's farm laws rolled back is the first priority as these will anyway destroy them, he said.

He said it is now up to the Centre to accept their demands.

When asked if they fear that the infection may spread as thousands have gathered over a large area, he said, "No farmer fears this disease at the moment. All they have on their minds is to get these laws rolled back."

In Sonipat, a Haryana Health Department official said they have so far distributed 5,000 masks to the protesting farmers.

Also, after every kilometre we have stationed an ambulance, he said.

Mobile toilets have also been installed at various points and sanitisation is being regularly carried out, he added.

The health department also plans to carry out random tests for COVID-19.

We are trying to take all necessary measures so that everyone remains safe amid the pandemic, he said. We are also urging farmers to wear masks and try to maintain social distancing.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had appealed to the farmers to shift to the Burari ground and had said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they move to the designated place.

A meeting of over 30 farmer groups on Sunday rejected Shah's offer for talks before the scheduled date of December 3 and demanded an unconditional dialogue.

Thousands of protesters refused to budge and spent another night in the cold at the Singhu and Tikri border points.

Their representatives had said that Shah's condition that they shift the protest is not acceptable and claimed Burari ground is an "open jail".