Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Another round of talks between the central government and the agitating farmers remained inconclusive on Thursday with an agreement to meet again on Saturday for further negotiations even as the union agriculture minister gave an assurance on behalf of the government not to “touch” the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the farmers sticking to their stand “repeal the contentious acts.”
“The government is committed to the interest of the farmers. The government has no ego. Discussions with farmer organisations were held with an open mind,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told media persons after the talks on Thursday.
While Tomar assured farmer leaders that MSP (Minimum Support Price) will not be touched, and no changes will be made to it, the farmer leaders suggested to the government that a special session of Parliament be called and the new farm laws be abolished.
The fourth round of talks between the Centre and farmer leaders was held at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi. The leaders of 40 farm organisations are meeting with three ministers from the central government – Narendra Singh Tomar along with railways, food and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state for commerce Som Prakash.
Earlier today, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had met with Union home minister Amit Shah. He has urged both the parties to find a solution sooner, as the protests are adversely affecting the economy of Punjab. In several states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha and some other, farmers took out protest rallies in support of the farmers’ agitation in Delhi.
In a significant development of Thursday, Akali stalwart and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal returned his Padma Vibhushan award in protest against the Centre’s farm laws. “This award has lost meanings to me when the centre is not listening to the farmers’ grievances,” he said. Several sportspersons from Punjab had also earlier returned their awards to support the farmers’ protests.
The farmer leaders who went to Vigyan Bhawan for talks refused to accept food offered by the government and they shared the food that they brought with them. Some videos going round showed the union leaders came prepared for the lunch time — with boxes full of food and paper plate for distribution so that they don’t have to accept government hospitality.
A delegation of 40 farmers arrived at Vigyan Bhawan early in the day for their second round deliberation with the Centre amid the ongoing ‘Dilli Chalo’ protests, which entered the eighth day on Thursday. The agitating farmers earlier said they had come to Delhi for the protest with enough foodgrains in stock to sustain them for months, hinting that they won’t yield unless their demands are met.
The first meeting to end the present stalemate owing to the ongoing protest of thousands of farmers in Delhi and at the borders of the Capital city was held on Tuesday. It fell through as the farmers’ representatives refused the Centre’s proposal to set up a committee which will address the issue of the farmers. On Wednesday, Union home minister Amit Shah met Tomar and Piyush Goyal to discuss the issue.
The farmers want a Parliament Session repeal the laws enacted in September, which the government had earlier rejected. It had asked the farmers’ bodies to identify specific issues that are worrying them.
The laws have been enacted as major farm reforms removing middlemen but the farmers are worried that minimum support price (MSP) will be rendered ineffective.
Tomar said though the new act had provided that farmers could take their grievances to SDM court, the Farmers’ Unions felt that SDM court is a lower court and they should be allowed to go the court. “Government will consider this demand,” he said.
The farm leaders put out a five-point set of demands that seeks to frame a specific law on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and end the punishment provision for stubble burning.
In the written five-point set of demands, one of the key demands is the repeal of three contentious farm laws passed in September during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. It also raises objections about the upcoming Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The farmer union representatives emphasised that a new law on MSP should be framed in a special session of Parliament, demanding that it must guarantee them MSP not only now but in the future as well.
The farmer leaders said: “Let us assume that MSP will continue but the procurement would stop. The MSP will have no meaning then.”
The farmer union representatives said while the government claimed that the three farm laws were brought in with the interests of farmers in mind, these would only benefit big business and corporate houses.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union, the Bharatiya Kisan Sanyukta Morcha and the Krantikari Kisan Union were among the farm union representatives who put the demand before the Centre to call a special session of Parliament and frame a law on MSP.