Farmers have been agitating on Khanauri and Shambhu border for the last one year. Today, an important meeting is going to be held between the representatives of the central government and the farmer organizations, which will discuss several major demands including the guarantee law on the MSP (minimum support price).
Earlier, the farmers demonstrated power for three days, in which a big mahapanchayat was organized on the Shambhu border on Thursday. The meeting was held on the occasion of completion of one year of “Kisan Movement 2.0”.
According to sources, 14 farmer representatives will attend the meeting to be held today with the central government. In this meeting, issues like legal guarantee of MSP, debt waiver of farmers, and implementing the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission will be discussed.
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Farmers’ power demonstrated for three days
Prior to this meeting, farmers organized mahapanchayat at different places:
- February 11 – Mahapanchayat in Ratanpura, Rajasthan
- February 12 – Mahapanchayat on Khanouri border
- 15 February – The biggest mahapanchayat on Shambhu border
On Thursday, farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand participated in the Mahapanchayat held in the presence of thousands of farmers. During this, farmer leader Saravan Singh Pandher said that during a year, 43 farmers have lost their lives and more than 450 farmers have been injured.
Farmers’ organizations announced that a big program will be held on the anniversary of Shubhakaran Singh in Ballo village of Bathinda on 21 February. Shubhakaran Singh was martyred during the peasant movement.
Major demands of farmers
Farmers’ organizations have prepared a long list of their demands before the meeting.
- Legal guarantee of MSP (minimum support price)
- Implementing the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission
- Full debt of farmers should be forgiven
- Cases registered against farmers should be withdrawn during the movement
- Subsidy on diesel, manure and pesticides should be given
- Landless farmers get pension and financial assistance
According to sources, the central government may provide some partial relief, such as the announcement of waiving loans of small farmers.
Central government gets strength before negotiation
This meeting will not be easy for the central government, but recently the BJP’s victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has given it some strength.
- The success of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, Haryana assembly elections and Delhi elections has strengthened the government’s position.
- With this, it will not be easy to pressurize farmer organizations.
According to sources, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi will lead this meeting on behalf of the central government. The meeting will be held in Chandigarh and will not include any representative of the Punjab government.
