Farmers believe the laws will deprive them of their profits by eliminating the MSP.
New Delhi:
The cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to discuss changes to the new laws on minimum guaranteed prices for farmers today, a key trigger for his mass protests near Delhi and the possibility of exempting Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from the laws.
Sources say the government is discussing various options before making a decision. One of the suggested formulations is to exempt key states from agricultural laws, including the exemption of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and also to ensure that the Minimum Sustenance Price (MSP) mechanism will continue.
Although an MSP ordinance is not officially on today’s cabinet agenda, senior government officials are not ruling it out, given the severity of the protests on the roads near Delhi in the growing cold of winter.
So far, farmers have rejected the government’s offer to make amendments to the three new laws enacted in September. They want the laws to be eliminated entirely and say that mere guarantees about the MSP are not enough.
Farmers believe the laws will deprive them of their profits by eliminating the MSP, or state-set minimum prices that the government buys from, and leave them vulnerable to businesses. The government says the laws will bring much-needed reforms in the agricultural sector that will help farmers improve their income by cutting out middlemen and selling products anywhere in the country.
Yesterday, peasant leaders said they would “make” the center repeal the laws, reflecting a hardening of its position on a day when Prime Minister Modi alleged an opposition conspiracy to “confuse” and mislead farmers.
“I want to reiterate that my government is ready 24 hours a day to resolve all your doubts,” he said, appealing to farmers, at a public meeting in Gujarat.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the government was willing to talk to “genuine agricultural unions” to find a solution with an open mind.
He has been speaking separately with various unions. Yesterday, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kisan), based in a part of UP, said it was ready to end its protest.
Tomar said after meeting with them that the MSP was “an administrative decision and will continue as is.”
Sources say the separate talks are part of a strategy to weaken the protests by exposing cracks in their unity and the difference between what various farmers’ bodies want.
Five meetings have been held between protesting farmers and the government. Union Interior Minister Amit Shah also met with farmers.
Many petitions have been filed with the Supreme Court about farmers’ protests. A petition wants protesters to be moved to a designated location in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Another asks the higher court to direct the center to consider the farmers’ demands. He also wants the National Human Rights Commission to investigate whether there was any police assault on the farmers. A third petition wants the high court to allow farmers to enter Delhi and protest in Jantar Mantar.
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