Deadlock in talks continues, farmers’ bodies ask Govt to clear position
Even as the deadlock continues, farmers’ protest march to Delhi from Punjab and Haryana is apparently headed for a solution. It is learnt that there is “general consensus” among most farmer bodies that if the Government accepts the demand for legal guarantee for MSP, they may postpone the agitation. However, they made it clear that the Government has to move first if it wants to continue the dialogue on the various demands.
“We have made our demands, two rounds of talks have already been held. We are not interested in another committee being proposed as the fate of the current committee (under former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal) is known to everyone. We are ready for the next round of talks whenever the Government finds the time,” farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka told businessline.
In November last year, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, who are leading the protest march to Delhi from different parts of the country, demanded implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation to fix minimum support prices (MSPs) at 50 per cent over and above C2 costs of production, and a law to guarantee purchase of crops at MSP.
Other demands included unconditional pension for farmers above 60 years of age, farmers should be made completely debt-free once and for all, implementation of minimum 70 per cent written consent for farmers, and compensation at four times the rate of land in land acquisition in all states (it has still not been implemented in some states).
“We can think of postponing the march if the government accepts the demand to make MSP a legal guarantee. As three Ordinances were issued overnight (farm laws of 2020), there is no hurdle in making MSP legal. Once it is announced, talks can continue on other demands,” a farmer leader said, and added that the Congress on Tuesday announced that it would provide legal guarantee.
The other group of farmer bodies under SKM on Tuesday extended their support to the current agitation. But some leaders in the SKM (non-political) expressed reservations about taking their support, saying that group (SKM) is also participating in electoral politics.
Meanwhile, SKM (non-political) coordinator Abhimanyu Kohar issued a statement Wednesday appealing to more farmers to join the march as tension continues on the Haryana-Punjab borders points near Ambala and Jind. He said 30 farmers were injured on Tuesday as the Haryana Police allegedly used batons and teargas shells on them.
The Haryana Police on Tuesday lobbed several rounds of tear gas shells, including through drones, on the Punjab-Haryana borders near Ambala and Jind, to prevent farmers from reaching Delhi, as thousands of farmers had started from different parts of Punjab in their tractors.
Speaking during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Ambikapur district of Chhattisgarh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on February 13 said the party would implement the ‘Kisaan Nyay Guarantee’. He promised legal MSP and implementation of the Swaminathan formula on MSP.
Acting on two separate petitions filed before it on the issue of farmers’ march to Delhi, the Punjab and Haryana High court has issued notices to the Centre, and both the Haryana and Punjab governments. While one petitioner has sought directions from the court to order removal of all obstructions on the highways, another has pleaded for punishment for protesters for blocking highways.