Chandigarh (National Times): Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been staging hunger strike for over months, reached Chandigarh ahead of protesting farmers’ meeting with a central government delegation today for another round of negotiations to address their demands, including securing a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher revealed that the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, leading the farmers’ movement, will send a 28-member delegation to participate in the talks. Pandher expressed the farmers’ hope that the government will address and resolve their ongoing issues.
The last round of talks took place on February 22, where Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were present. During the previous meeting, the government requested data from the farmers to support their claim for a legal MSP guarantee, which would later be discussed with experts.
Farmers have estimated the cost of implementing a legal guarantee for MSP at Rs 25,000-30,000 crore annually.
Earlier discussions included a February 14 meeting between Union Minister Joshi and farmers’ representatives. Prior to this, four rounds of talks took place in February 2024, though none yielded a resolution.
The farmers have been camped at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after being prevented by security forces from marching to Delhi. In addition to the MSP guarantee, the farmers are demanding the cancellation of police cases against them, debt waivers, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, no increase in electricity rates, justice for victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during the 2020-21 protests.
