Will urge Centre to talk to farmers: Gurmeet Singh Khuddian

Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian on Friday said he will urge the Centre to initiate talks with the farmers protesting at the state’s border points with Haryana for close to 10 months now seeking a law guaranteeing assured price for their crops.

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Khuddian said he will raise the issue during a meeting called by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday to discuss with Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers of all states the Centre’s draft National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing.

“I will raise the issue of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s indefinite fast to get the Centre to agree to talk to them and find a solution to their genuine demands,” the Punjab Minister told The Tribune.

The statement came a day before the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha — umbrella bodies spearheading the stir at Punjab's Khanauri and Shambhu border points since February last year — are scheduled to hold a Mahapanchayat.

On Thursday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also accused the BJP-led Centre of “pressuring the state government to forcibly provide medical aid” to Dallewal, whose hunger strike over the demand for a minimum support price for crops entered 39th day on Friday.

The CM had also asked the Centre to talk to farmers, while saying his government would not force the septuagenarian farmer leader to seek medical aid.

So far, the Central government has not sent any invite to the protesting farmers for talks ever since the talks between the two sides broke down in February 2024, day after their march to Delhi was halted by BJP-ruled Haryana.

Khuddian said he will also “strongly oppose” the draft marketing policy during the meeting called to discuss agriculture sector reforms. The draft policy was shared with the state government last month.

He said they are preparing a list of demands and issues related to agriculture, including crop diversification and stubble management.

Earlier, the Punjab CM had junked the draft marketing policy, which he said is an attempt to bring back the contentious provisions of the three Central farm laws, which were rolled back in 2021 after a year-long-protest by farm bodies on the Delhi border points.

He alleged that the draft policy aimed at handing over “procurement to private players” while doing away with the present Mandi system.

The protesting farmers have already rejected the draft policy.

A Mahapanchayat of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha is also being held at Haryana’s Tohana on Saturday and at Moga on January 9 to raise the demands for an assured price of crops and to reject the draft agriculture marketing policy.