Tribune news service
New Delhi, November 13
The meeting between the Union Ministers and the representatives of the farmers’ unions started in Krishi Bhavan here on Friday.
So far, farmers have received a presentation in Punjabi, explaining the merits of the three laws and also the ‘pro-farmer measures’ taken by the Narendra Modi government, promising to double income by 2022, sources said. .
In the presentation, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Narendra Singh Tomar also compared MSP prices under the NDA regime and previous UPA governments.
Sources said several representatives said they had not understood the laws, but wanted to know what the government intended to do about it.
“If we lose our land, what will we do with the promise of a double income,” the sources quoted the farmers as saying.
The farmers have filed five lawsuits with the Center, including the repeal of the three laws, the restoration of rail services in Punjab and the withdrawal of the strict laws to burn ‘paralí’, which include a prison sentence and a fine of 1 rupee crore.
They also apparently told Railways Minister Piyush Goyal that the farmers had left the train tracks, accusing the Center of financially blocking Punjab.
Thirty farmers unions Thursday He decided to attend the meeting with the Center today but at the same time demanded that the three agricultural laws be repealed.
Rajinder Singh Deepsinghwala of Krantikari Kisan Union said that it had been decided that thousands of farmers from Punjab would now move to gherao Delhi by tractors from November 26 to 27.
The peasant leaders also demanded that the state government immediately release the pending quotas of the cane producers.
“The neighboring state of Haryana has increased the state advised price (SAP) of cane to Rs 350 per quintal, while the price of cane has been stable in Punjab over the last three years. We demand that we be given a similar raise. The state government is also ignoring the farmers, ”said Harmeet Singh Qadian, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Qadian).
The representatives of the farmers’ unions will also demand that the Center reduce taxes on diesel, given the fall in oil prices for the benefit of the peasant community.
