Centre Proposes 'Out Of Box' Ideas In 5-Hour Meeting With Farmers

centre proposes ‘out of box’ ideas in 5-hour meeting with farmers

New Delhi: The Centre and the farmers’ bodies held the fourth round of talks late till Sunday night over various demands the farmer leaders had put forth as a condition to call back their protests. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Arjun Munda, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai held the talks at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26, Chandigarh. The government has proposed buying several crops from the farmers at MSP through cooperatives for the next five years under legal agreement.

Apart from this, the government panel has also proposed ways to aid the depleting water level in Punjab as well as crop diversification to boost the production and save water table in the state.

What Piyush Goyal Said After The Meeting

Union Minister Piyush Goyal talked to the media in Chandigarh after the meeting concluded at around 1 am on Monday. He said that government proposed ‘out of box’ and ‘innovative’ ideas. He said that government promoted cooperatives like NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will get into a legal contract with the farmers to buy ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize at MSP for next five years. He said for this, there will be no cap on the quantity that the agencies will purchase from the farmers.

“It will save Punjab’s farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the land from getting barren which is already under stress,” Goyal said.

The minister further said that the Cotton Corporation of India will enter a 5-year legal agreement with farmers to purchase the crops at MSP. Adding that the two sides had a positive talks with new ideas and thoughts, he said, “We had a detailed discussion on how to carry forward the work done by PM Modi in the last 10 years.”

“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.

Farmers To Continue With Feb 21 ‘Delhi Chalo’ March If…

Speaking on the proposal put forward by the government, General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Sarvan Singh Pandher said that the farmers will continue to move forward with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 21 if there is no result post discussions on the proposals in the next two days, reported news agency ANI.

“We will have discussions on the proposal by the govt in the next two days…The govt will also deliberate on the other demands…We will continue with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Feb 21 if there is no result,” Pandher said while talking to the media after the conclusion of the meeting with Union Ministers. He said the farmer organisation will 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.

Pandher said the farmers are hopeful that a discussion on loan waivers and other demands would be done in the next two days. As of now, the Delhi Chalo’ march is on hold, but will resume at 11 am on February 21 if all the issues are not resolved, he informed the media.

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said that the government has given us a proposal, which will be supervised and managed by two government agencies. He said they will discuss the proposal with their forums and experts and then, will come to a conclusion. “…Our march (Delhi Chalo) will continue till the demands are met…Talks on several other demands need to be done,” Dallewal told ANI.