Haryana farmers end NH-44 blockade after promise of 'fair price' for sunflower

Parveen Arora

Pipli (Kurukshetra), June 13

Farmers who had blocked NH-44 at Pipli in Haryana’s Kurukshetra since Monday afternoon to protest non-procurement of their sunflower crop at minimum support price (MSP) called off their stir on Tuesday night after the government assured them of an “appropriate” price.

The farmers ended their protest and lifted the blockade following a meeting with Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sharma and SP Surinder Singh Bhoria, who conveyed the government’s assurance of a “fair price”. Addressing the farmers, the DC said, “The Haryana Government is offering the best price for sunflower seeds among all states. Hafed started the procurement at Rs 4,800 per quintal, which was later hiked to Rs 4,900. Tomorrow, the crop will be bought at Rs 5,000. An additional Rs 1,000 is being given under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana.”

The government had announced an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal, but the procurement price was capped at Rs 4,800 after the crop rates crashed. The farmers were to suffer Rs 600 per quintal loss after taking into account the Bhavantar Bharpai amount.

About the second demand to release the arrested farmers, the SP said an investigation was underway and “they had conveyed the message to the union leaders”. After the announcement, the farmers were in a jubilant mood and they danced on the national highway. Farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Karam Singh Mathana, Suman Hooda, Rattan Singh Mann, Arshpal Charuni and Suresh Koth, said they had decided to lift the dharna as their demands had been accepted.

Earlier in the day, a four-hour meeting held between the two sides remained futile as no headway could be achieved on the MSP issue. Though the district administration claimed the meeting was “positive”, the farmers accused the government of dishing out “misleading information”. The protesters had said they would continue their stir and even appealed to the farmers of nearby villages to turn up in large numbers at the dharna site on Wednesday.

As NH-44 connects Delhi with Chandigarh, thousands of commuters faced a harrowing time as the traffic had to be diverted through narrow alternative routes.

8,000 farmers protesting on nh booked

• Haryana Police have lodged a case against around 8,000 protesting farmers, five to six of them by name, for blocking NH-44

Against Rs 6,400 MSP, farmers assured Rs 6,000

• Govt had earlier announced an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal for sunflower seed crop
• After prices crashed, the govt offered to procure the sunflower crop at Rs 4,800
• Farmers were at a loss of Rs 600 till the price was hiked to Rs 4,900; now it’ll be Rs 5,000
• An additional Rs 1,000 is being offered under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana