A delegation of protesting farmer leaders from Punjab, invited to the talks by Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal, left the meeting and demanded the presence of agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, according to a general platform representing the farmers.
The Center had invited at least 31 farmer organizations and their leaders from Punjab to talks in New Delhi, the second attempt in a month to reach out to farmers protesting a set of laws enacted to liberalize agricultural markets. “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 black laws against farmers,” Kisan Sangharsh Coordination for all of India the committee said.
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The farmers’ delegation demanded the presence of the agriculture minister, 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 on the minimum price of living as a legal right and to deal with the cost of inputs … ”, said the AIKSCC. Avik Saha, coordinator of the AIKSCC, said the meeting with the agriculture secretary “did not meet any of these criteria,” as the bureaucrat is not in a position to 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. Farmers have blocked roads and railways since September 24 in a protest against legislation they fear could pave the way for the government to stop buying cereals at guaranteed prices (minimum support prices or MSP), leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. by private entities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defending the laws, has called the new measures “historic.” He has said that while the laws give farmers options to sell their produce to private buyers, the government would continue to buy staple foods from MSPs. The laws seek to end local monopolies in regulated markets known as agricultural commodity marketing committees by opening up to private competition. These guarantees have done little to satisfy 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 agribusiness.
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The reforms are a crucial test of the Modi government’s ability to push through structural policy changes in the antiquated agricultural sector, which supports nearly half of all Indians, while appeasing especially large farmers in the food bowl states. .
However, a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture said that farmers’ leaders sat in discussions for nearly two hours before presenting a memorandum. When asked about the absence of the agriculture minister from the meeting, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: “If anyone wants more (discussion), we are always open (to) meet with everyone. But (Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh) Tomarji has an engagement today, therefore he is gone. When he is free, he will meet everyone. There is no problem in this. ”
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