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Haryana SKM unit opposes Centre’s MSP panel; to join countrywide protests on July 31
Terming the 29-member panel set up by the Centre to make MSP more effective and transparent “misleading”, Haryana unit of SKM announced to join countrywide protests on July 31 against the panel
Terming the 29-member panel set up by the Centre to make minimum support price (MSP) more effective and transparent “misleading”, the Haryana unit of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday announced to oppose the MSP committee by joining the countrywide protests on July 31.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the SKM members here and they unanimously decided to hold fresh protests from July 31 by blocking all key highways and railway tracks of the state for four hours from 11 am to 3 pm.
The farmers said that the protests shall remain peaceful and khap panchayats and toll plaza committees will also participate to make the protest successful.
Yogendra Yadav of the SKM said that all the morcha members from Haryana have unanimously decided that Haryana farmers will also support the SKM’s protest call on July 31. He claimed that the officers and farmers who were in favour of now repealed three-anti farmer laws have been appointed to the panel. He said that the nomination of these people in the panel “exposes that the government wants to re-implement these laws”.
SKM member and senior farm leader from Punjab Joginder Singh Ugrahan said that the government did not clarify the functioning of this committee and what decision it will be able to take. “The issue to form a committee was raised after the SKM members demanded the government for a law to guarantee MSP. But now they have formed this panel by inducting their own members,” he said, adding that now they are blaming SKM members for not giving three members for this panel.
He refuted any differences within the SKM members and said that all farmer organisations are united and they will keep fighting for the rights of the farmers.
SKM to launch weeklong protests against Agnipath
The SKM will also launch weeklong protests against the Agnipath Scheme introduced by the government for army recruitments by involving army aspirants and ex-servicemen. The farmers will demand the government to bring an ordinance against the Supreme Court’s ruling under which the land chunks described in the revenue records as shamlat deh (village land reserved and used for a common purpose) and wrongly partitioned and alienated would now be restored to gram panchayats.
Ratan Mann, Haryana president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said that the SKM members from Haryana will hold protests at all the district headquarters on August 5. He said that the farmers also discussed the issue of pending payment of ₹56 crore of sugarcane farmers associated with the private sugar mill in Naraingarh of Ambala.
