Farmer’s Protest: Reject 5-Year MSP Purchase Formula, Farmers’ U-Turn Leaves Central Government Stunned! Talks Hang in Balance

Farmer’s Protest: Farmers and government are once again face to face. After the failure of the fourth round of talks with the Centre, the farmers are adamant on marching to Delhi for all their demands including MSP. Earlier, in a conversation with farmers on Sunday, the Central Government had given a 5-year purchase formula at the MSP of pulses, maize and cotton. Farmer organizations rejected this. The government is also surprised by this attitude of the farmers, because it was these farmer leaders who had suggested to encourage the purchase of these produce by government agencies. 

The government had come up with the proposal that paddy cultivation was adversely affecting the groundwater level and this was worrying. According to the report of Times of India, during the meeting, the Punjab government also raised the issue of falling groundwater level due to excessive use of water in paddy cultivation. According to sources, during this meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann had also appealed to the farmers to pay attention to the fertility of the land and emphasize on crop diversification so that problems like deteriorating land condition and falling water level can be faced.

Farmers had expressed this concern in the meeting

In the meeting, farmer representatives said that due to limited purchase of paddy and wheat on MSP, farmers of Punjab and Haryana are not able to diversify their production. Apart from this, it was also said in the meeting that the government spends foreign exchange on imports instead of purchasing pulses from domestic farmers. The proposal put forward in the meeting by Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was being seen as an option. However, talks continued on other issues. In the meeting, most of the farmer organizations were seen in support of the government’s proposal and asked for time to reply. 

Is SKM behind rejecting the proposal?

However, there was a sudden change in the attitude of the farmer organizations present in the meeting and they rejected the government’s proposal. According to government sources, it seems that the farmers present at the meeting came under pressure from Darshan Pal and other leaders of the organization Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). The movement went on for 13 months in 2020-21 under the leadership of United Kisan Morcha.

Talking to the media, a government official said that the farmer unions of Punjab involved in the talks had assured the government that they would come back after discussing. But a few hours after SKM rejected the proposal, suddenly the farmer organizations rejected the government’s proposal. 

Government ready for talks:

According to sources, the government’s proposal may have been rejected by the farmers, but the government is still ready for talks. According to sources, during the last meeting, the government was also said to be ready for 100% procurement on Arhar, Urad and Masoor and this government is also ready to give it in writing. According to sources, during this meeting, the government agreed to give MSP on cotton and maize also. The government has told the farmers that they will have to ensure that they pay attention to the fertility of the crop and land and focus on crop diversification.