Farmers unions, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, say the new laws will lead to the dismantling of the MSP system under which government agencies buy their crops at a guaranteed price. In its proposal to farmers on Wednesday, the Center had said it would give a written guarantee that the MSP system will stick and also address its other key concerns.
The unions, however, demand the total repeal of the central laws and have threatened to intensify their agitation. Thousands of farmers have stayed at the Delhi border points – Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Chilla (Delhi-Noida) – for two weeks against the laws.
On Thursday, the government had asked farmers’ groups to reconsider their proposals to amend the laws to address their concerns and said it was open to further discussing their offer when unions wanted, but protesters remained defiant. The Union’s agriculture minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, said on Friday that some “antisocial elements” were conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the farmers’ movement and called on the protesting farming community to be vigilant against misuse of its platform.
At least five rounds of formal talks have taken place between the central government and representatives of thousands of farmers, but the stalemate has continued with unions sticking to their main demand for repeal of the three contentious laws and repeatedly rejecting the Center’s offer. to make some changes in the law and give written guarantees or clarifications on some issues, such as MSP and mandi systems.
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