Thirty farmer organisations in Punjab, which have been agitating for the repeal of the recently-passed laws, have decided to attend the meeting convened by Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal on Wednesday, a farmer leader said on Tuesday.
Seven top farmer leaders from the State will attend and they would demand, apart from repealing of the farm laws, C2+50 per cent minimum support price and State procurement of farm produce. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of farm leaders held at Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Punjab farmers have been protesting against the farm laws for nearly two weeks disrupting the rail traffic. Balbir Singh Rajewal, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union – Rajewal (BKU Rajewal), said the protests will continue and a decision whether to relax the agitation or to intensify it will be taken on Friday.
Apart from Rajewal, Darshan Pal (Krantikari Kisan Union), Jagjit Singh Dhalewal (BKU- Sidhupur), Jagmohan Singh (BKU-Dakunda), Satnam Singh Sahni (BKU-Doaba), Sardar Surjeet Singh Phool (BKU-Krantikari), and Sardar Kulwant Singh (Jamhoori Kisan Sabha).
Negotiations
It was not for the first time that the Centre tried to call the protesting farmer leaders to negotiation table. However, the farmers refused to participate in that meeting saying that they wanted talks with either Union Agriculture Minister or the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, farmers led by Rashtriya Kisan Mahasanghin Madhya Pradesh commenced their protest against the farm laws. “New farm laws are trying to facilitate the corporate at the cost of farmers. These are failed policies in developed countries, where agri-business corporations captured everything that farmers had. Farmers want new laws that ban below MSP sale,” its president Sivakumar Kakkaji said.