Farmers’ protest: 5-year plan to buy pulses, maize at MSP proposed; march into Delhi on hold till Feb 21 

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A fourth round of talks was held between the Union ministers and farmer leaders on Sunday (Feb 18). Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai arrived at Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Sector 26 in Chandigarh for the meeting which started at 8:15 pm and ended at around 1 am on Monday (Feb 19).

Following the meeting, while talking to the reporters, Goyal said that the panel has suggested that government agencies buy cotton, maize, and pulse crops for five years at minimum support rates after reaching a deal with farmers.

“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” said Goyal.

Goyal said that this would preserve Punjab’s farming industry, raise the groundwater table, and prevent the already stressed area from becoming barren.

“The farmers’ union will tell us their decision by morning. We will also have discussions with NCCF and NAFED after returning to Delhi,” he added.

‘Will have discussion on the government proposal in next two days,’ says farmer leader

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that they will hold a discussion regarding the government proposal, taking inputs from the experts to reach a decision. Till then, the march towards Delhi has been put on hold.

“We will discuss in our forums on February 19-20 and take the opinion of experts regarding it and accordingly take a decision,” Pandher said.

However, he asserted that farmers will continue with the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march on Feb 21 if there is no result.

The farmer leader further said that the government and farmers’ unions would try to find a solution to the issues.

“We will have a discussion on the proposal by the govt and take opinions on it…The decision will be taken by today morning, evening or the day after…The ministers said that they will have discussions on the other demands after returning to Delhi…The discussions will be held on Feb 19-20 and the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march scheduled for Feb 21 will be decided based on the discussions…Together (govt and the farmers’ union) we will try to find a solution to the issues,” he added. 

Farmers demanding MSP guarantee on purchase of pulses, says Punjab CM

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the farmers had demanded an MSP guarantee on the purchase of pulses, which was discussed during the talks that went on for five hours.

“First, a guarantee will have to be given, which will be possible only if NAFED, NCCF and Cotton Corporation get a guarantee of 5 years. In which there are 6 to 7 decisions, this proposal has been given in which the farmers will take the decision and then they will go and discuss,” Mann said.

(With inputs from agencies)