Centre defers May 4 meeting with Punjab farmer unions
The Centre has deferred the meeting with farmer unions scheduled for May 4, saying it would be inappropriate to hold a meeting without the representatives of the state government.
In a letter to the farmer unions, the Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Purna Chandra Kishan, has rejected the SKM (Non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha's demand for not including the Punjab Government representatives in the May 4 meeting. No new date has been given for the meeting.
The letter, addressed to farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher, states that the they should rethink on their demand. “You are aware that there is a defined role of state governments in the organisational structure. Thus it would be appropriate to include the state government representatives in the meeting between the Centre and the two farmer forums,” reads the letter.
“You are requested to give your consent for the state government representatives to be present in the meeting, after giving the issue some serious thought. We are postponing the meeting till we get your consent… the next date of meeting will be intimated after we receive your consent,” says the letter, a copy of which is with The Tribune.
Talking to The Tribune, Pandher said they felt dejected at the meeting being postponed. “We are holding our meeting on May 3 to decide on the issue (of giving consent to the inclusion of state government representatives),” he said.
The two farmer unions had written a letter to the Centre on April 27, asking the Centre not to make the state government a part of their meeting on May 4. In the three meetings held between a three-member delegation of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and representatives of the two farmer unions this year, the state government representatives, led by Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, had been present.
The eight farmer leaders who sent this letter had said they would not attend the meeting "if the state government representatives are made a part of the meeting". The letter was sent in protest against the state government crackdown on farmer leaders in March and the forcible lifting of their year-long dharnas at Shambhu and Khanauri borders.
