Farmers protest: After 4th round of talks, Centre proposes to give MSP on 5 crops; farmers to get back on Monday morning after discussion

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 18

After the fourth round of talks between the farmers and the government, the Centre on Sunday night offered to give guarantees on buying five crops from farmers at the Minimum Support Price.

The crops which the Centre has proposed to buy on assured MSP are pulses arhar, tur and urad, and cotton and maize. It is proposed that the central agencies like NCCF, NAFED and Cotton Corporation of India will sign a contract for five years to buy the crops from the farmers.

The farmer leaders have been asked by the three-member central team comprising Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, to discuss their proposal and give their nod, before a concrete plan is discussed and implemented.

The meeting began at 8.10 pm, two hours after scheduled time, and talks were held for over four hours.

Union minister Piyush Goyal said the meeting with farmer leaders was held in a positive environment. “Our government has procured crops for Rs 18 lakh crore, PM Kisan scheme has been rolled out and subsidy on fertilisers increased three fold. The proposal given to the leaders today will be beneficial to all the farmers of Punjab and Haryana. Farmers who go in for diversification in agriculture to cultivate these crops instead of cultivating paddy will benefit,” he said.

Goyal said the farmer leaders will convey their decision regarding their proposal by Monday morning. He hoped the farmers would call off their protest now.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who was also present at the meeting, along with state Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, said he acted as the advocate of the farmers. “We spend crores on importing pulses from Mozambique. If our farmers get a good price and assured buy back, it will be a win win situation,” he said, adding that he hoped peace would prevail. Already two farmers have died during the protest, he rued.

During the meeting, discussions on debt waiver and fixing prices of crops in accordance with the formula given in the Swaminathan Commission report were also held between the 14 farmer union leaders and the central team.

The meeting began with the farmers demanding that all observe a two-minute silence as a mark of respect and to express grief over the death of farmer Gian Singh, who had died during the protest at Shambhu on Friday.

The Centre, say sources, also offered to fix the MSP on crops based on the A2 + SL formula, but farmers are demanding cost of crops fixed on a more comprehensive formula.

Tonight’s meeting was held five days after the farmers, under the aegis of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, started their “Dilli Chalo” protest march, that has been confined to the borders of the state with Haryana. The pressure on both sides, besides the Punjab government was palpable.

While the farmer leaders are under pressure as the farmers who have been stopped from marching to Delhi are getting restive, the government is also under as much pressure as they fear that if the issues were not resolved now, many other farmer unions could join in their protest.

Already, the largest farmer union in the state – Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) – while supporting the demands raised by the protesting unions, has launched its own separate agitation of making toll plazas free for all traffic.

Today, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, too, has announced its targeted demonstrations in Punjab against BJP leaders from February 20-22, and to observe a nationwide “black flag day” on February 21.

The state government, too, is under pressure that if the farmers are not allowed to breach the multi-tier barricades of Haryana Police and march forward, they will be confined in the state and will hold their morcha on the state borders. The government fears that this could lead to an “economic blockade” of the state.

The farmer leaders who arrived for the meeting today are Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Sarwan Singh Pandher, Surjit Singh Phul, Jaswinder Singh Longowal, Satnam Singh Bargarian, Amarjeet Singh Mohri, Abhimanyu Kohar, Ramandeep Singh Mann, Gurdas Singh Lakadwal,

Kurbur Shanta Kumar, Maninder Singh, Malkeet Singh, Sukhdev Singh Bhoj and Onkar Singh.

Internet shut

Ahead of fourth round of talks today, the Centre ordered a shutdown of internet services in most parts of Patiala, Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib. The shutdown has been ordered till February 24. During the last meeting of farmers with the central team on February 16, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had raised the issue of the Centre shutting down internet in the state. We (Punjab government) should be allowed to decide that, he had said. The Aam Aadmi Party again criticised this action saying “it was a desperate effort to silence the voice of protesting farmers”.