Farmer leaders meeting with Centre: Deadlock persists over MSP, talks pushed to fourth round

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 15

Some breakthrough in talks between farmer union leaders and the Centre seems to have been achieved tonight. Though the former have refused to roll back their ongoing protest till they get an assurance from the Centre for a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, the protest will now be peaceful.

Farmers to maintain peace

Talks held in a positive manner. There was a consensus on several issues. Farmers will maintain peace. I asked the Centre to tell Haryana not to use force. Bhagwant Mann, Punjab CM

The five-hour-long meeting between the union leaders and a central team comprising three Union ministers began here after a delay of over three hours. The meeting was convened to resolve the ongoing stand-off between the farmers and the Centre. A fourth round of talks will now be held between the two sides on Sunday.

Information available with The Tribune revealed that there was an impasse for a long time during the meeting as the farmer leaders were adamant on getting a legal guarantee on MSP for all crops, while the central team, comprising Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, tried to explain that it could not be done immediately and needed an expert committee to study and implement this. The ministers also reasoned that the last session of the current Parliament was over and a law could not be framed immediately.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, besides top officers from the police and the civil administration were also present at the meeting.

Ever since the “Dilli Chalo” call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, this was the third round of talks between the two sides. Two days since the protest started, farmers have been contained in Punjab, with the Haryana Police blocking all entry points into their territory to stop the protesting farmers from reaching Delhi.

In the melee that has followed after the protesters tried to break the multi-tier barricades at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, many of them have been injured in tear gas shelling and from rubber pellets fired by the police to stop them.

As the meeting began tonight, the farmer union leaders objected to the alleged abuse of power on them by the Haryana Police and even brought empty shells fired at them with drones and pictures of injured farmers to show to the ministers. The leaders reportedly alleged that the weapons used by the police against them were similar to those used by the army in a war. “We are protesting to get our rights. Then why is such force being used to curb our peaceful march. Are we the enemies of the state?” the farmer leaders reportedly asked the Union ministers. They also objected to their social media accounts being withheld.

At the last meeting on February 12, the farmer leaders were adamant that the protest would continue till they got written assurances on bringing a legal guarantee on the MSP, debt waiver for farmers and farm labourers, and fixing the MSP of crops in accordance with the formula (c2 + 50 per cent) prescribed in the Swaminathan Commission report.

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