The meeting between a Central team led by Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pralhad Joshi, farmer leaders which began in Chandigarh Saturday evening ended inconclusive with an agreement that the next round will be held on March 19 at same place. Both sides termed the deliberations as very fruitful and in a positive atmosphere.
Briefing media after the 2-hour long meeting, Chouhan said that farmer leaders placed their demands and argued why they need those while the government placed its several initiatives for the benefit of farmers and the agriculture sector.
Some farmer leaders said that there was differences over data placed by the government with regard to market prices of agriculture produce. The government wanted more information about how much lower are the prices from MSPs according to them, a Punjab’s farmer leader said.
Chouhan requested fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to end his indefinite fast. But all farmer leaders reiterated that the fast will end only after the government accepts the demand for a legally enforced minimum support price (MSP).
The first round of meeting was held February 14 where Chouhan could not join due to marriage of his son. The meeting resumed after a year-long protest by farmers led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.
Four rounds of meetings
Four rounds of meetings took place between central ministers and the protesting farmers in February 2024 but the talks ended after farmer leaders rejected the suggestions of assured government procurement of some pulses, oilseeds, cotton and maize at MSP for five years.
The Central team included Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, Additional Secretary Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, Joint Secretary Purna Chandra Kisan from agriculture ministry.
Besides a legal guarantee for crop MSP, the farmers are demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases, “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.