5-hour-long talks between government, farm leaders remain inconclusive; farmers to go ahead with 'Dilli Chalo' march on February 13 : The Tribune India

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Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 12

The second round of talks between Union ministers and farmer leaders ended inconclusively at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 here late on Monday night.

After the meet, Sarwan Singh Pandher of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said the farmers' 'Dilli Chalo' march is on. “We will march towards Delhi at 10 am on Tuesday,” Pandher said.

Besides farmer leaders, Punjab Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, state government's senior officers, including Chief Secretary Anurag Verma and Director-General of Police Gaurav Yadav attended the five-hour-long meeting.

The ministers -- Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda -- held the meeting with the farmer leaders.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher, among others, were part of the meeting, which began at around 6:30 pm.

Sources said farmer leaders were adamant on getting legal guarantee for MSP, which is one of their key demands.

While the Centre had already assured them that some of their demands would be met, sources said the farmer leaders were unwilling to relent till the time the debt waiver and legal guarantee for MSP were met.

The demands that have been accepted by the Centre include grant of Rs 10 lakh compensation to farmers injured in Lakhimpur Kheri; cancellation of FIRs during the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation; compensation and jobs for families of farmers killed in the agitation; and, improving the quality of seeds on all crops and revolving licences and imposing penalties on companies manufacturing and selling sub-standard seeds.

Regarding the farmers' demand for non-implementation of the Electricity Amendment Bill, the Centre has said that the matter is still under deliberation of the Standing Committee of Parliament.

Earlier, the farmer leaders, including Shiv Kumar Kakka of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, K V Biju, Sarwan Singh Pandher, Sachin Mohapatra, Abhimanyu Kohar, Balwant Singh Behramke, Baldev Singh Sirsa and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, met at Amb Sahib Gurdwara, Mohali, for almost two hours before their sechduled meeting with the Central team.

Though initially a three member team of ministers from the Centre were supposed to hold the second round of talks with the farmers today, the Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai has reportedly not joined in for the meeting.

The first round of meeting, facilitated by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, was held on February 8.

Tractor-trolleys start from Punjab to join ‘Dilli Chalo’ march

Tractor-trolleys in large numbers on Monday set out from different parts of Punjab to join the planned farmers’ march towards Delhi.

More than 200 farmer unions are expected to participate in the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march on Tuesday to press the Central Government to accept their demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Authorities in Haryana have fortified the state’s border with Punjab at many places in Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra and Sirsa using concrete blocks, iron nails and barbed wire to scuttle the proposed march.

The Haryana Government has also imposed restrictions under section 144 of the CrPC in as many as 15 districts, prohibiting the assembly of five or more people and banning any kind of demonstration or march with tractor-trolleys.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have announced that more than 200 farm unions would head to Delhi on February 13.

Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said a convoy of tractor-trolleys set out in the morning from Beas in Amritsar to assemble in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

Many farmers from Moga, Bathinda and Jalandhar districts have also started from their villages to join the march.

SKM (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said tractor-trolleys will assemble at Fatehgarh Sahib district and Mehlan Chowk in Sangrur on Monday evening.

In the national capital, traffic restrictions have been put in place and security arrangements intensified at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders ahead of the march to prevent vehicles carrying protesters from entering the city.

The Haryana Police and the Chandigarh Police have already issued traffic advisories, asking commuters to take alternative routes.

The Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba), which is part of the SKM, on Monday announced its support to the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.

The SKM had spearheaded the 2020 agitation against the now-repealed farm laws. But this time, it is staying away from the ‘Delhi Chalo’ call of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.

Several farmer bodies like BKU (Charuni), BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), BKU (Lakhowal), and BKU (Rajewal) are not part of the Delhi Chalo protest. — with PTI inputs

18:08 12 Feb

Farmer leaders arrive in Chandigarh

Farmer leaders on Monday arrive at the venue in Sector 26, Chandigarh for a crucial meeting with Union ministers Arjun Munda and Piyush Goyal regarding their demands.

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