Farmer Protest: Following the national government’s proposal for a revised Minimum Support Price for crops, farmer leaders declared that the Delhi Chalo march would be postponed until they had a chance to review the proposal, which they will do in the next two days.
Protest at Punjab-Haryana Border
Thousands of protesting farmers were camped at the Punjab-Haryana border on Sunday, and Ministers of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Arjun Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and State Minister for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP.
After the meeting, Goyal spoke with media about the panel’s recommendation that government agencies purchase cotton, maize, and pulse crops for five years at minimum support prices after reaching a deal with farmers.
Cooperative Society Involvement
“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 after the meeting. “There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this,” he added.
Farmers’ Decision-Making Process
The farmer leaders stated that they will deliberate on the government’s proposal in their forums for the next 48 hours before determining the next steps. “We will discuss in our forums on February 19–20 and take the opinion of experts regarding it and accordingly take a decision,” stated farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher.
Scheduled Resumption
The “Delhi Chalo” march is now on pause but will continue at 11 am on February 21 if all the concerns are not handled, Pandher said. A conversation on loan waivers and other requests is pending, and we expect that these will be settled in the next two days.
“On the proposal given by the government, we will discuss in our respective forums and also with our experts, may be by tomorrow (Feb 19) or day after tomorrow (Feb 20). On the pending demands, the government said it will deliberate. 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,” Pandher said.
Unresolved Talks in Early February
Earlier on February 8, 12, and 15, the Union ministries and farmer leaders met, but the discussions ended without a resolution. Punjab farmers on a protest have been camped out at Shambhu and Khanauri points on the state’s border with Haryana since authorities stopped their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) called for the march in order to demand their demands.
In addition to a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the following: the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, waivers of farm debt, police cases against them being dropped, “justice” for the victims of the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during an earlier agitation in 2020–21.
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