Central team seeks data from farmers on MSP guarantee; talks to resume in Chandigarh on March 19

Chandigarh, Feb 22 (PTI) A Central team on Saturday sought details of data presented by the protesting farmers to back their demand for legal guarantee for MSP on crops to discuss with experts during a fresh round of talks between the two sides held here.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who led the three-member central team, said the meeting with farmer leaders was held in a cordial atmosphere and the next round of talks will take place in Chandigarh March 19.

The farmers claimed that a legal guarantee for MSP can be given with an estimated outlay of Rs 25,000-30,000 crore per annum, as the discussions centred around the MSP guarantee law.

Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal also attended the meeting on Centre's behalf.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Chouhan said the central team placed the farmers' welfare programme, which is the priority of the Narendra Modi government, before them during the meeting.

"We heard the views of farmer leaders Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher very carefully. A very good discussion took place. The talks would continue and the next meeting will be held in Chandigarh on March 19," the minister said after the meeting that lasted for nearly three hours.

However, Chouhan did not take any questions from the media.

Chouhan along with Joshi earlier reached the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration -- the meeting venue -- at 6:05 pm to meet the 28-member farmers' delegation.

Punjab Cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Lal Chand Kataruchak were also present at the meeting.

Cheema said the farmer leaders presented some data to back their demand of legal guarantee for MSP on crops.

"The ministers asked from where they collected the data. The farmers will share the details with the Centre in a couple of days," Cheema said.

The data pertained to crop purchase made in the open market and at MSP, Cheema said.

"There was some difference of opinion on data. As per the central team, the data shared by the farmers were not matching with the official records. They (central team) have asked for the sources of the data," Cheema said.

"We hope some solution is reached at the next meeting on March 19," the Punjab finance minister said.

Asked whether any discussion took place on pulses or other crops, Cheema said only the MSP issue was discussed at the meeting.

The farmer leaders said after the meeting that they presented facts to back their demand for a legal guarantee for MSP on crops.

"Which crop is sold below the MSP in which state was also shared with the central team. We presented our facts responsibly," farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said.

"If the government's policy and intentions are clean, legal guarantee for MSP can be given with an estimated outlay of Rs 25,000-30,000 crore per annum," Kohar claimed.

The central team will again sit with the farmers after holding a detailed discussion with experts, he said, adding that the market support price for crops in the country is negative.

Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said the central team shared details about schemes like Bhavantar Yojana and allocation of outlay in the Budget.

They also informed about bringing a new mission on pulses, oilseeds and cotton crops, Pandher said.

However, the Centre's policies were not as per the requirements of the farmers, Pandher said, as he highlighted the plight of the farming community.

"We want to highlight the plight of the farmers. Therefore, we demand that Parliament should ensure legal guarantee for MSP," Pandher said.

He also claimed that the agriculture ministry returned an unutilised sum of Rs 1 lakh crore to the Union finance minister in the past five years.

"They (central team) had no answer to this. We will provide the entire data within a week for study," he said.

"We shared the advantages of legal guarantee for MSP. It will stop farmer suicides as they will have a guarantee of getting the minimum price for their crop.

"When farmers and labourers get the right prices, the purchasing power in the markets also increases. So what's the harm in giving a legal guarantee for MSP, we asked at the meeting," Pandher said. The central team did not say that they were not ready to frame a law to give legal guarantee for MSP, Pandher said.

"They said more discussions were needed before taking a big decision like this (on MSP)," he added.

Pandher also sought opening of roads at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points.

"The farmers demand the Punjab government to pass a resolution in support of the farmers' 12 demands and reject the draft policy on the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM) in the coming Vidhan Sabha session," Pandher said.

To a question on the call to resume their 'march to Delhi' on February 25, Pandher said both the fora -- the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) -- will take a call on this.

"We cannot say that this meeting was conclusive or inconclusive. We can only say that discussions on legal guarantee for MSP have moved forward," Pandher said.

The farmers' delegation also comprised Jagjit Singh Dallewal (70), who has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands.

Prior to the February 14 meeting, four rounds of meetings took place between central ministers and the protesting farmers in February 2024, but the talks remained inconclusive.

The farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands.

Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, and justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh.

Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands. PTI CHS VSD ARI ARI

Source: PTI