Centre-farmer talks cordial, next round slated for Feb 22
The second round of talks between a Central Government delegation, led by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, and representatives of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) began today.
Hopeful of positive outcome
The meeting was held in a conducive atmosphere. We’ll meet again and are hopeful of a positive outcome. Pralhad Joshi, union minister
Khudian meets Joshi over RDF
- Punjab Agri Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian met Union minister Pralhad Joshi & sought release of Rural Development Fund
- The fund has not been released since 2021 and a sum of Rs 6,857.40 crore is due to the state, which is impacting works
Though no concrete decision was taken, the two sides agreed to meet again on February 22 to carry the deliberations further. The two farmer unions have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders for a year now.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan could not attend the meeting because of a wedding in his family today. It is learnt that he will attend the next meeting.
The meeting lasted nearly three hours and is being considered crucial in resolving the deadlock with the farmers. The talks between the two sides had failed in February 2024.
The meeting began at 5 pm. Official sources told The Tribune that the talks were held in a conducive atmosphere. The sources said farmer leaders, including KMM leader Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, insisted that they would not step down from the protest till a legal guarantee on the minimum support price of crops was given.
The central delegation, which also included Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, spoke about farmer-friendly initiatives that the Centre has already announced such as the PM ASHA scheme, the Special Seeds Mission and the increase in the MSP of both paddy and wheat — the two main crops of Punjab.
Both Pandher and Abhimanyu Kohar of the Bhartiya Kisan Naujawan Union insisted that only 13 per cent of the crops were procured on the MSP and it was important to bring a legal guarantee and fix the MSP of crops on the basis of the C2+50 formula.
The sources said Joshi enquired about Dallewal’s well-being and reportedly told him that his life was precious. He asked him to end his fast now since the talks had started. Dallewal politely said that he would end the fast once their demand for a legal guarantee on the MSP was met though he would continue to take medical aid.
During the course of the protest, 60 farmers have died at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders. BKU (Sidhupur) leader Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast since the end of November.
The sources said the meeting paved the way for further dialogue between the two sides to arrive at a common ground on the issue of guaranteed MSP for all crops.
“The meeting was held in a conducive atmosphere. We will meet again soon and we are hopeful of a positive outcome as discussions were held on the demands put forth by the farmers,” Joshi later told mediapersons.
Dallewal too said the meeting was positive and the first step had been taken to resolve the issue.
Dallewal came in an ambulance from the Khanauri border. Other than these two leaders, 26 other farmer leaders participated in the meeting.
Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Food and Supply Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, DGP Gaurav Yadav and Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Anurag Verma also participated in the deliberations. They had been deputed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to participate in the meeting.
