After nearly 5-hours of talks on Thursday night between Union ministers and farmer leaders, both agreed to meet again on February 18 to hammer out some solutions to the demands raised, and farmers have assured that they will not try to proceed to Delhi till the next round of discussions.

Farmers have been demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation of fixing the minimum support prices (MSPs) at 50 per cent over and above C2 costs of production and a law to guarantee the purchase of crops at MSP. Other demands include unconditional pensions for farmers above 60 years of age, and farmers should be made completely debt-free.

During the talks with the farmers, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai represented the Centre, while Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present. Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Shiv Kumar Kakka and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher, among others, represented the farmers’ unions.

Later, Mann said that on several issues, there was an agreement between both the Centre and farmer leaders as talks were held in a positive environment.

However, a farmer leader who was present at the meeting said that the government seems to be not serious about three main issues – legal guarantee of MSP, fixation of MSP on C2 formula and debt waiver. He said Goyal elaborated for about 30 minutes on what steps the government has taken in the last nine years in the agriculture sector, which are already known.

The government has assured them that the remaining cases of farmers registered during the 2020-2021 farmer agitation shall be withdrawn while many cases have already been withdrawn, the farmer leader said. He also said that the government has committed to keep farmers out of the purview of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill.

“If all those steps are good enough, farmers would not have come on the road to protest. The main issue of right price for our produce should be addressed first,” the leader said. He also felt that the government is buying time to commit anything and may take it till the announcement of the poll schedule, and once that comes, it will show its helplessness, citing the model code of conduct.

However, some Punjab farmer leaders said they are hopeful of an announcement on legal guarantee as they see it as a political move to bring BJP closer to the Akali Dal for a tie-up.

Meanwhile, two unions in Punjab – Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner) – who are not part of the current “Delhi march” protest, have started ‘rail roko’ in the State on Thursday against the Haryana Police firing on the protesting farmers on the Haryana-Punjab border points.

Also, as Friday is being observed by various farmer and trade unions under SKM banner as ‘Bharat Bandh’ to press the government to accept the legal guarantee of MSP, many other farmer bodies like Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakunda), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Qadian) and Kirti Kisan Union are taking part in the bandh.

Farmers also staged demonstrations at several toll plazas in Punjab and forced the toll authorities to let go of commuters without toll fees. However, commuters faced inconvenience as many buses stayed off the roads, Punjab Roadways, Punbus. and the PRTC Contract Workers’ Union support the bandh.

Members of the BKU (Charuni) staged ‘dharnas’ at several toll plazas in Haryana and did not allow the staff to charge fees from commuters.

BKU members, which protested in some places of western Uttar Pradesh, are likely to meet Saturday to decide next course of action. BKU spokesman Rakesh Tikait said that a meeting is scheduled in its headquarter Sisauli (Muzaffaranagar) on Saturday, where planning for the future course of action will be made.

Related Topics