Hours after holding the fourth round of talks with the Centre, a faction of farmer representatives on Monday said they would mull over the government’s proposal to give the guarantee on buying five crops at the minimum support price (MSP) and the Delhi Chalo march shall be put on hold till February 21.
However, another faction led by farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal rejected the proposal, saying, “What we are saying is not a new demand. That was a commitment to us by the Government. We had tried to draw the attention of Government towards those commitments again and again. But the Government showed no seriousness to date...”
The development came after a panel panel comprising Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Sunday proposed the buying of pulses, maize, and cotton crops by government agencies at the MSP for five years after entering into an agreement with farmers.
The All Kisan Coordination Committee (AKCC), one of the factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), has welcomed the proposal, however saying that the farmer unions are unlikely to accept this proposal due to peer pressure, political ambitions and their “competitive unionism”, which is overshadowing interest of the farmers.
Thousands of protesting farmers are camping at the Punjab-Haryana border.
Goyal described the talks as “positive,” saying that the farmer leaders raised various concerns during the meeting. Speaking to the media after an over four-hour long meeting at Chandigarh, Goyal said the “innovative” and “out-of-the-box” idea came up during the discussions and the farmer leaders would decide on the government’s proposal by Monday morning.
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said discussion was held on issues like a law on MSP, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and loan waivers. On the Centre’s proposal, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “We will discuss in our forums on February 19-20 and take the opinion of experts regarding it and accordingly take a decision.”
“There will be peaceful protests at Shambhu and Khanauri borders located along the Haryana entry points till that time. Our decision to go to Delhi is on standby. On February 21 at 11 am, we will move forward peacefully. Till then we will try to present our points in front of the Centre,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher, the leader of one of the factions. Meanwhile, the situation at Delhi-Haryana border and Haryana-Punjab borders remained by and large peaceful.
Goyal also referred to steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led Government in the farm sector and said that from 2014 to 2024, the Centre acquired crops worth Rs 18 lakh crore at MSP while between 2004 and 2014, crops worth only Rs 5.50 lakh crore were procured at the assured price.
“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.
“There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this,” he added. It will save Punjab’s farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the land from getting barren which is already under stress, the minister said. The farmers pointed out that they want to diversify into maize crops but want to avoid suffering losses when the prices drop below the MSP,” the Minister added.
On the possibility of another meeting with the farmers, Goyal said if they take a decision on Monday, the government will proceed to hold discussions on the same lines as he urged the farmers to call off their protest. However, he underlined that the other demands of the farmers were “deep and policy-driven” and it was not possible to find a resolution without an in-depth discussion. “Elections are coming and a new government will be formed… discussions on such issues will continue,” he said.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the production of pulses has increased from 163.20 lakh tonne in 2015-16 to 260.6 lakh tonne in 2022-23 and oilseeds from 252.50 lakh tonne to 409.97 lakh tonne during the same period. Further, import of pulses has declined from 58 lakh tonne in 2015-16 to 24.96 lakh tonne in 2022-23.
In addition, the Government has also launched a separate Mission for Oil Palm namely, National Mission on Edible Oils (Oil Palm) in 2021-22. The Mission will bring additional area of 6.5 lakh ha under Oil Palm plantation with 3.28 lakh ha in north-eastern states and 3.22 lakh ha in Rest of India with a total outlay of Rs. 11,040 crore in next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
