'Dilli Chalo' march: Day after rejecting its proposal, farmers ask Centre to accept their demands

Chandigarh, February 20

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday sought that the Centre accept their demands, including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm loan waiver, and said they would head to Delhi on Wednesday.

His statement came a day after the farmer leaders taking part in the ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation rejected the Centre’s proposal for procuring pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP by government agencies for five years, saying it was not in favour of farmers.

In the fourth round of talks with the farmer leaders on Sunday, a panel of three Union ministers proposed that government agencies would buy three pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP for five years after entering into an agreement with farmers.

Talking to reporters at the Shambhu border on Tuesday, Pandher, who represents the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, said the farmers had three big demands — a legal guarantee on the MSP for all crops, the implementation of the “C2 plus 50 per cent” formula as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission and loan waiver.

Replying to a question, Pandher said at the meeting with the Union ministers, the farmers proposed that a law on the MSP be enacted by convening a special session of Parliament.

On the issue of loan waiver, he said according to government reports, farmers have a total debt of Rs 18.5 lakh crore. He requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an announcement that the farm loans would be waived, while a mechanism for the same could be worked out later.

“The BJP claims that the present prime minister is a strong prime minister. If he makes an announcement on waiving the debt of 80 crore farmers and farm labourers, it will stamp the BJP’s claim that he really is a strong prime minister,” Pandher said.

He asked the Union ministers to give their response to the various demands of the farmers.