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Ahead of talks, farmer leaders seek MSP ordinance
The protesting farm unions and Union ministers are set to meet today in Chandigarh, the fourth such meeting since the agitation began
A day before the crucial meeting with Union ministers, farm leaders on Saturday asked the Centre to bring an ordinance on giving a legal guarantee to MSP.
Speaking to reporters at the Shambhu border, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “If the government wants resolution of farmers’ protest, then it should bring an ordinance with an immediate effect that it will enact a law on MSP, then discussion can proceed further.”
“It (Centre) can bring the ordinance overnight, if it wants so,” he said, adding that as far as the issue of modalities is concerned, any ordinance has a six-month validity.
Leaders of the protesting farm unions and three Union ministers -- agriculture minister Arjun Munda, industries and commerce minister Piyush Goyal and Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai, are set to meet in Chandigarh on Sunday.
This would be the fourth round of talks between the two sides since the fresh agitation, led by SKM (non-political) leaders, began.
On the issue of farm debt waiver, Pandher said the government is saying that the loan amount has to be assessed. The government can collect data from banks in this regard, he said adding, “It is a question of political will power.”
“They (the Centre) are saying it has to be discussed with the states. You leave aside the states. You talk about the Centre and central banks and then finalise how to waive farmers’ debt,” said Pandher.
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march along with Pandher, also said that the government should bring an ordinance for “giving something to people of the country”.
“The government should bring the ordinance with such an intention that it is implemented with immediate effect, and within six months, it can be converted into a law and there is no problem in that,” said Dallewal.
Farmer leaders go into huddle day before meet
Meanwhile, leaders of various protesting farm unions went into a huddle on Saturday to formulate a strategy for Sunday’s meeting.
Backroom parleys were also held between the protesting farmers and the state and Central agencies to end the impasse.
The three Union ministers are expected to arrive in Chandigarh, directly from Mumbai, where the BJP’s national council meeting, to plan the Lok Sabha election strategy, is going on.
The Punjab government, which is facilitating the talks, is, however, yet to get an official confirmation on the arrival of the three ministers.
Meanwhile, sources said there is pressure on the farmer unions from various quarters to attempt to break the barricading done by Haryana to reach the national capital.
So far, SKM (non-political) leaders and Union ministers have met thrice -- on February 8, 12 and 15, but failed to arrive at a consensus. The sides are said to have had a disagreement on bringing legal guarantee for MSP and adopting the “C2 plus 59 per cent” formula of Swaminathan Commission, among other issues.
Besides this, the farmers are also demanding pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, and withdrawal of police cases registered during the previous farm agitation in 2020-21, among others.
Farmers from Punjab began their march to Delhi on Tuesday but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of Punjab’s border with Haryana. The protesters have stayed put at the two border points since then.
