Farmers On Their Way To Delhi As Hours-Long Talks Fail To Bear Fruit

farmers on their way to delhi as hours-long talks fail to bear fruit

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of the country are on their way to the national capital Tuesday as talks between the Centre and farmers’ unions failed to bear any results until late Monday night. The farmers’ call to march to Delhi is being spearheaded by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, a collective of 250 farmers’ unions, and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, that brings together another 150 unions.

Kisan Mazdoor Sangh general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said that talks between farmers’ groups and ministers went on for nearly five hours on Monday. He was speaking at Fatehgarh Sahib where farmers from Punjab had stopped for the night after having started their march from the Beas river on Monday.

Pandher said the farmers’ groups presented an agenda before the government. “The central government has not been able to make a strong decision on anything. The government is asking for time from us to pause the agitation. But they asked us for time two years ago too, when the farmers agitation ended,” he said.

“We thought that giving time is not suitable now. If there is a strong proposal then we can think of giving time but they don’t have anything,” added Pandher.

The primary demand of the farmers is their long-held call to turn minimum support price (MSP) guarantee into law. They also seek the strict implementation of the Swaminathan formula while deciding MSP that allows farmers 50 per cent guaranteed returns.

The farmers’ meeting with ministers took place in Chandigarh. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda led the talks on behalf of the Centre.

The farmers and the Centre have however managed to agree on some issues such as repealing the Electricity Act of 2020, providing compensation to farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and the withdrawal of cases lodged against farmers during the 2021 movement against three farm laws.

Meanwhile, Delhi and neighbouring states of Haryana and Rajasthan have upped their guard even as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has lent his support to the protests.

As of Monday evening, a massive 12-layer barricade has been erected at the Shambhu Barrier on national highway 1 leading to Delhi, and multiple barricades had been set up at Fatehabad, Khanauri, Dabwali, etc. The Internet has been shut down in several districts.

There is heavy police presence at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. Police have imposed a month-long ban on large gatherings. Many roads have been blocked with concrete blocks and barbed wires and the movement of commercial vehicles have been stopped.