A delegation of protesting Punjab peasant leaders, invited to the talks by the Union’s agriculture secretary, Sanjay Agarwal, left the meeting and demanded the presence of the agriculture minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, according to a platform representing them.
The Union government had invited at least 31 farmers’ organizations and their leaders from Punjab to talks in the national capital, the second attempt in a month to reach farmers protesting against a set of laws enacted by Parliament to liberalize agricultural markets.
See: Farmers leave the meeting of the Center due to the absence of the minister
“The meeting was an effort to try to create a false impression that the central government is committed to farmers, when in fact it is doing its best to implement and enforce the black laws against farmers,” the Kisan Sangharsh Coordination for All India Committee said in a statement.
The farmers’ delegation demanded the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, and broke copies of the laws.
“First, the government must be ready to review and, if necessary, repeal all three laws. Second, the government should be prepared to consider the possibility of legislating the minimum price of sustenance as a legal right and to deal with the cost of inputs, food security and other issues, “said the AIKSCC statement.
Avik Saha, coordinator of the AIKSCC, said that the meeting with the agriculture secretary “did not meet any of these criteria” as the secretary could not repeal, amend or enact new laws.
“Rather, his job is to implement the laws enacted by the government, so he is the wrong person for the right discussion,” Saha said.
A one-line statement issued by the ministry on the meeting said the farmers’ delegation submitted a memorandum to the agriculture secretary addressed to the union’s agriculture minister.
The memorandum called for the repeal of recent laws enacted to deregulate agricultural markets.
Farmers have blocked roads and railways since September 24 in a protest against legislation that they fear may pave the way for the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed prices (minimum support prices or MSP), leaving them vulnerable to the exploitation by private actors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defending the laws, has called the new measures “historic.” He has publicly said that while the laws give farmers options to sell their products to private buyers, the government will continue to buy staples like rice and wheat from MSPs. The laws seek to end local monopolies in regulated markets known as Agricultural Product Marketing Committees or APMC by opening up to private competition.
These guarantees have done little to satisfy millions of farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and the western parts of Uttar Pradesh. Large groups of farmers, who often produce substantial surpluses, fear that deregulation will leave them vulnerable to powerful agribusinesses and in an even weaker bargaining position than before.
The reforms are a crucial test of the Narendra Modi’s government’s ability to push through structural reforms in the country’s antiquated agricultural sector, which supports nearly half of all Indians, while appeasing especially large farmers in the bowl states. source of food, they are an influential voting bloc.
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