A day after farmers’ unions, protesting on the Delhi borders against the new farm laws, said they are open to talks if a more concrete proposal is made, the government responded on Thursday saying it is ready for a “resolution. logic “of all the problems raised by farmers. .
In a letter addressed to 40 representatives of farmers ‘unions, Vivek Aggarwal, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, urged them to decide on the date and time of the next round of talks, and also “give details of other issues on which I want to negotiate ”.
“The Government of India wants to reiterate again its commitment that it is ready for a logical resolution of all the problems raised by the agitated farmers unions,” he said.
Writing to the Ministry a day earlier, the farmers’ unions had said that, apart from the three central laws, “their ‘proposal’ on Minimum Support Prices did not have anything clear or concrete that warranted a response from us. With respect to minimum support prices, he proposed a “written guarantee” regarding the continuation of the current procurement system. However, farmers’ organizations require a legal guarantee that all agricultural products will be purchased only at MSP or higher, which also at an MSP set with formula C2 + 50% as recommended by the National Farmers Commission. When the Government sends the draft of said legislation (for the legally guaranteed realization of a remunerative PEM for all agricultural products and for all farmers), we will give a detailed response without delay ”.
Narendra Singh Tomar with farmers who support new laws.
Seeking a legal guarantee on MSP, the unions are now linking MSP to the “formula C2 + 50%”.
In a memorandum to the Secretary of Agriculture on October 14, union representatives had listed five lawsuits, of which three were related to MSP, which included the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report “to fix MSP with C2 + 50% formulas.” ; and make PEM and the state purchase of all crops a legal right of farmers.
The Farm Costs and Prices Commission projects three types of production costs – A2, A2 + FL and C2 – for each crop, both statewide and average across India.
A2 covers all out-of-pocket costs incurred directly by the farmer – in cash and in kind – on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, hired labor, leased land, fuel, irrigation, etc.
A2 + FL includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family work.
C2 is a more comprehensive cost that takes into account rents and lost interest on own land and fixed capital assets, in addition to A2 + FL.
Referring to the union demand related to the MSP, Aggarwal wrote: “The three laws related to the agricultural reforms have no relation to the procurement based on the minimum support price nor do they have any effect on the procurement system based on the MSP. that already exists before the promulgation of these three laws ”.
Farmers during protests against agricultural laws.
“This was mentioned in all rounds of talks. It was also clarified that the government is willing to give a written guarantee regarding the continuation of the current MSP-based procurement system, ”he said in the letter.
“It does not seem logical to raise any new demand on this issue, which is withdrawn from the new agrarian laws. But as previously stated, the government is ready to discuss all the issues that you raised, ”said Aggarwal.
On the position of the unions on the Electricity Amendment Law and the issue of stubble burning, he said that the government is ready to discuss additional issues, in addition to the issues identified in the December 3 meeting between the government and unions.
He said the government is ready to discuss the issues, with good intentions and an open heart, to end the turmoil.
A day earlier, reading the letter sent by farmer leaders, Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav told the press on the Singhu border: “We urge the government not to repeat those nonsensical amendments that we have already rejected, but to present a concrete proposal in writing, so that an agenda can be made and the negotiation process can begin as soon as possible. We are waiting for the government to proceed with an open mind and clean intentions. “
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