Farmers demand ordinance on MSP ahead of crucial talks with government today
Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai are scheduled to meet with farmer leaders on Sunday in Chandigarh for the fourth round of discussions aimed at resolving the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Previous meetings held on February 8, 12, and 15 failed to yield conclusive results. Ahead of the upcoming talks, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has called on the Centre to issue an ordinance providing a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP), saying, “Ball is in the government’s court.”
The farmers’ protests have garnered support from various farmer unions across the country, including the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) and BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, who have announced plans for further demonstrations and a potential tractor march to Delhi if their demands are not met. To press for their demands, farmers will stage dharnas in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttarakhand on February 21, said Tikait.
Gurnam Singh Charuni, leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), said a ‘Mahapanchayat’ is planned for Sunday at Kurukshetra, where farm organisations, labour, and sarpanch unions will deliberate on their next steps in supporting the protesting farmers.
The farmers’ agitation is gaining momentum across the country. On Saturday, protesting farmers organised a tractor march in Haryana and sat on dharnas outside the residences of senior BJP leaders. Additionally, around 100 farmers were arrested during a ‘rail roko’ (stop the trains) protest in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur.
In response to the protests, the Haryana government has extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts until February 19, aiming to maintain public order.
Farmers’ camp-out at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana entered its sixth day on Sunday after their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march was stopped by security personnel.
The protesting farmers are seeking not only a legal guarantee of MSP but also the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension schemes for farmers and labourers, debt waivers, no increase in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases, justice for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation for families affected by the 2020-21 agitation.