Farmers protest news: Farmer leaders on Sunday announced that the Delhi Chalo march has been put on hold since they will study the Centre’s new plan for the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
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They, however, said that the Delhi Chalo march could resume on February 21 if all the issues are not resolved.
Union Ministers Arjun Munda (Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry), and Nityanand Rai (Minister of State for Home Affairs) held the fourth round of talks with farmer leaders on Sunday over their demands.
Farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been stationed at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13 when the police halted the Delhi Chalo protest. The call for the protest was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.
Farmers’ demands include a legal guarantee of MSP among others. After the meeting, Piyush Goyal said the Centre has proposed that government -promoted cooperative societies will buy pulses, maize and cotton crops at MSP for five years after entering into an agreement with the farmers.
He also noted that there will be no limits on the quantity of produce brought.
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“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow tur dal, urad dal, masoor dal or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” Goyal said.
“There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this,” he noted.
Farmer leaders, however, said they will discuss the proposal in their forums on February 19-20 and decide the future course of action thereafter, according to General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsg Committee Sarwan Singh Pandher.
Pandher also mentioned a discussion on loan waivers and other demands is pending, which he hopes would be resolved in the next two days.
“Since the government has come up with a proposal, our programme of going to Delhi at 11 am on February 21 has been put on standby. Both us and the government will try to find a resolution through talks. If due to some reason it doesn’t happen, then we will request the government to let us go to Delhi peacefully,” he said.
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Other demands put forward by farmer leaders are the implementation of the recommendations under the Swaminathan Commission, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hikes in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, as well as the compensation to the families of the farmers who died during 2020-21 protests.
