News Analysis India

Tag: Minimum Support Price

  • Farmer Leader’s Big Allegation, Says Paramilitary Forces Abducted Six People By Crossing Into Punjab |

    After the farmer unions halted their ‘Dilli Chalo’ march yesterday for two days after violent clashes at the Khanauri border, they held a media briefing today at the Shambhu Border making serious allegations against the paramilitary forces and Haryana police. The farmer leader claimed that the security forces crossed the border and attacked tents set up inside Punjab. They also claimed that their six people had been taken away by the forces.

    “We condemn the move of paramilitary forces crossing into Punjab and attacking the tents of the farmers. Punjab government should answer this how it allowed Haryana police and paramilitary forces to cross the border,” he said.

    The leader added that six people were missing in action. “Our six people whom the security forces took away are missing in action. Even during a war, paramedics and doctors are not attacked as per humanity. But in Khannauri, they attacked medical camps and doctors treating the injured and looted the people. This government has crossed the limits of barbarism,” the farmer leader alleged.

    VIDEO | “Paramilitary forces and Haryana Police forces crossed the (state) border and attacked the farmers’ camp in Punjab. Our six people are missing after the action. Punjab government should give the answers,” says a farmer leader while addressing a press conference at Shambhu… pic.twitter.com/DF6f5HohLX


    — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 22, 2024

    Farmers and security forces clashed at the Shambhu and Khannauri border of Haryana and Punjab as the agitators were not allowed to enter Delhi. After rejecting the governenment proposal for purchasing certain crops on MSP for five years, the farmers resumed their ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest call yesterday but due to clashes, they had to halt the march for 48 hours. 

    On the other hand, the government has invited farmers for further talks. The farm leaders and the Union minister held four round of talks which remained unsuccessful. General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor, Sarwan Singh Pandher, reiterated the demand for a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) and assured a ‘peaceful’ approach going ahead. The protesting farmers have been camping at the Shambhu border near Ambala since the start of the march on Tuesday, February 13. 

  • MSP to get legal guarantee if INDIA bloc comes to power: Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party will accept long-pending demands of farmers in the country and ensure a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) of crops if the INDIA bloc comes to power after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Addressing the ‘Kisan Nyay Panchayat’, a gathering of farmers, in Bihar’s Rohtas, as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Gandhi claimed that “cultivators are not getting the remunerative prices for their crops”.

    “If the INDIA bloc comes to power after the general elections, we will give a legal guarantee to MSP. Whenever farmers have asked for something from the Congress, it has been given to them. Be it loan waiver or MSP, we have always protected the interests of cultivators and will do so in future,” Gandhi said.

    His comment comes at a time when Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmers’ body, called for ‘Bharat Bandh’ on Friday to press the BJP-led central government to accept cultivators’ demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops. Farmers from Punjab began their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Tuesday but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Delhi and Haryana.

    The protesting farmers have been camping at the border points ever since. Their agitation entered the fourth day on Friday.

    The Congress MP also slammed the BJP-led central government, accusing it of “transferring a considerable portion of funds of the defence budget into the pockets” of an industrialist. “The Centre’s defence budget is not for the welfare of jawans and all defence contracts are going to a corporate group only,” he alleged. Gandhi also criticised the Centre for the ‘Agniveer’ scheme, saying, the Union government has “divided the army into two categories – Agniveer and regulars”.

    “If an Agniveer is injured or martyred, they will not receive adequate compensation. Why is this discrimination? Why have they created separate categories in the Army for Agniveer and others?” the Congress MP asked.

    Earlier, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav joined Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’. which resumed from the party’s district office in Sasaram this morning and is expected to enter Uttar Pradesh through Mohania in Kaimur district in the evening.

    Yadav and Gandhi were seen sitting on the roof of a sports utility vehicle, which was slowly moving, and they waved at enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the main road of the town.

    Locals queued up on both sides of the road and watched the procession. Earlier, Yadav was seen driving the SUV with Gandhi and other leaders on board.

    Both leaders of the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will also address a public meeting in Kaimur around 3 pm on Friday.

    The ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which started in Manipur on January 14, is scheduled to cover 6,713 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states, before culminating in Mumbai on March 20.

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  • farmers protest: Mamata Banerjee condemns ‘assault’ on protesting farmers in Haryana

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday condemned the firing of tear gas shells at protesting farmers in Haryana, dubbing it as “BJP’s brutal assault” on cultivators. The Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers who tried to break barricades set up at the state’s border with Punjab at Shambhu near Ambala, as growers demanding a law on minimum support price marched toward Delhi.

    “How can our country progress when the farmers are attacked with tear gas shells for fighting for their basic rights? I strongly condemn the brutal assault on our farmers by the BJP,” Banerjee said in a post on X.

    “Instead of suppressing their protest, BJP must focus on humbling their inflated egos, power-hungry ambitions, and inadequate governance that has harmed our nation,” she added.— MamataOfficial (@MamataOfficial) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha had announced that farmers would head to Delhi on Tuesday to press for their demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

    In Delhi, security has been intensified with multi-layer barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and walls of containers at border points, officials said.

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  • Govt cheating farmers, MSP hike less than even inflation rate: Congress

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi government of cheating farmers and said the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rabi crops announced by it is even lesser than the rate of inflation.

    Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said even as the BJP dispensation is patting its back for MSPs, it has in fact “duped the farmers” and claimed that their hard labour has got lost in the lights of Diwali.

    “The Modi government has once again cheated the farmers on the MSPs. The MSP of Annadata farmers’ hard work got lost again in the lights of Diwali. The Modi government patted its back by announcing the MSP of rabi crops, but duped the farmer and left them to shed tears of blood,” he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

    Calling out the BJP for what it called as “fraud with farmers”, he said the bitter truth is that the Modi government only announces MSP but does not buy crops on the MSP and demanded that the MSP law granting legal status to MSP is urgently required.

    “BJP’s ‘Shakuni Chausar’ has made the farmer’s life difficult. No Cost+50 percent, no fair price nor enough buying. Neither is the law on MSP being made. Modi ji promised in 2014 that he will give cost plus 50 per cent to farmers. Cost+50 per cent is far away, the declared MSP is less than the MSP demanded by the BJP governments themselves,” he claimed, alleging betrayal with the annadata.

    ALSO READ | Modi government forms panel to make ‘more effective and transparent’ MSP

    The Rajya Sabha MP said leaders can say rhetoric, but statistics don’t lie, claiming that the Congress-UPA government increased the MSP by 205 per cent while in the last eight years of the Modi government, the increase in MSP is only 40 per cent. “The MSP declared by the Modi government is even less than the inflation rate of the country. Inflation increased more and the MSP was less. “Countrymen, please think and speak about the 70 crore farmers and farm labourers of the country for two minutes on Diwali. Think about the toiling farmer-labourer, because of whom you eat even if he destroys himself. Happy Diwali everyone. Jai Jawan,” he said.

    The central government earlier this week raised the MSP of six rabi crops by up to 9 per cent, with Rs 110 per quintal increase for wheat crop to boost domestic production and farmers’ income. Wheat MSP has been raised by 5.45 per cent to Rs 2,125 per quintal from Rs 2,015 per quintal to encourage more area under the crop amid tight government stock position owing to low procurement, fall in production and higher exports.

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi government of cheating farmers and said the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rabi crops announced by it is even lesser than the rate of inflation.

    Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said even as the BJP dispensation is patting its back for MSPs, it has in fact “duped the farmers” and claimed that their hard labour has got lost in the lights of Diwali.

    “The Modi government has once again cheated the farmers on the MSPs. The MSP of Annadata farmers’ hard work got lost again in the lights of Diwali. The Modi government patted its back by announcing the MSP of rabi crops, but duped the farmer and left them to shed tears of blood,” he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

    Calling out the BJP for what it called as “fraud with farmers”, he said the bitter truth is that the Modi government only announces MSP but does not buy crops on the MSP and demanded that the MSP law granting legal status to MSP is urgently required.

    “BJP’s ‘Shakuni Chausar’ has made the farmer’s life difficult. No Cost+50 percent, no fair price nor enough buying. Neither is the law on MSP being made. Modi ji promised in 2014 that he will give cost plus 50 per cent to farmers. Cost+50 per cent is far away, the declared MSP is less than the MSP demanded by the BJP governments themselves,” he claimed, alleging betrayal with the annadata.

    ALSO READ | Modi government forms panel to make ‘more effective and transparent’ MSP

    The Rajya Sabha MP said leaders can say rhetoric, but statistics don’t lie, claiming that the Congress-UPA government increased the MSP by 205 per cent while in the last eight years of the Modi government, the increase in MSP is only 40 per cent. “The MSP declared by the Modi government is even less than the inflation rate of the country. Inflation increased more and the MSP was less. “Countrymen, please think and speak about the 70 crore farmers and farm labourers of the country for two minutes on Diwali. Think about the toiling farmer-labourer, because of whom you eat even if he destroys himself. Happy Diwali everyone. Jai Jawan,” he said.

    The central government earlier this week raised the MSP of six rabi crops by up to 9 per cent, with Rs 110 per quintal increase for wheat crop to boost domestic production and farmers’ income. Wheat MSP has been raised by 5.45 per cent to Rs 2,125 per quintal from Rs 2,015 per quintal to encourage more area under the crop amid tight government stock position owing to low procurement, fall in production and higher exports.

  • Jantar Mantar protest: Farmers charm the lot with traditional attire, emotional connect 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Among the hundreds of farmers who began their demonstration at the Jantar Mantar over a slew of issues, 64-year-old Sriaj Kodyuriv from Kerala garnered the most attention with his ‘Adivasi’ attire Kodyuriv reached Delhi on Monday after covering a three-day train journey from Kerala.

    For several hours, he stood at Jantar Mantar holding placards that read Implement MSP, Save farmer’.

    “Farmers are closest to nature. If they abandon their farm equipment, we won’t be getting any food. I am here for this,” Kodyuriv said.

    Asked why he chose the ‘Adivasi’ attire, he said: “This is to send a message that the farmers and tribal people deserve their rights.

    “Jantar Mantar buzzed with voices of dissent on Monday as farmers from all over the country gathered here demanding a law ensuring minimum support price for crops, farm loan waiver, and sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.

    Ajay Mishra is the father of Ashish Mishra, an accused in a case related to mowing down four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh during a farmer protest last October.

    Farmers, hundreds in number, launched their protest amid heavy security arrangements in a ‘mahapanchayat’ called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) at Jantar Mantar.

    They waved flags, wore caps with the name of their farm organisations inscribed on them, and raised slogans for farmer unity and against the Centre accusing it of not coming good on its promises.

    Farmers protested at the Gazipur border in New Delhi.Express video | @parveennegi1. pic.twitter.com/3WRQltgFuQ
    — The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) August 22, 2022
    Magha Nibori, a farmer from Punjab with one acre of farmland which he cultivates with seasonal crops, said he came here fully prepared to stay put, if required.

    Many travelled thousands of kilometres to take part in the mahapanchayat.

    “I am here from Cochin. Around 250 people have come from Kerala and nearby states to urge PM Modi to agree to our demands regarding MSP law, and other issues. We want India to withdraw from the WTO. Ajay Mishra should resign,” said Paulsen, a 50-year-old farmer from Cochin, Kerala.

    Many farmers registered their protests in their own unique ways.

    One of them came wearing a garland of garlic, while another, a woman, wore a saree with tricolours.

    “The government made a promise but now they are not doing anything. There is no concrete action taken by the government. If we can raise a person to power. We can also bring him down. The government should understand this,” Kavita, clad in tricolour print saree, said.

    As farmers associated with different unions reached Delhi, police obstructed their way to the protest site erecting deep layers of barricades across entry points of the city, and checked every vehicle entering the national capital, causing huge traffic jams.

    Besides the borders, Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri, key stretches on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, the Palam flyover, Aurobindo Marg, Ring Road (near Indraprastha Park), the Ghaziabad-Wazirabad road, and the Munirka road, and several other stretches, witnessed traffic snarls.

    Other than north India, farmers from states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Kerala arrived in Delhi to take part in the ‘mahapanchayat.’

    NEW DELHI: Among the hundreds of farmers who began their demonstration at the Jantar Mantar over a slew of issues, 64-year-old Sriaj Kodyuriv from Kerala garnered the most attention with his ‘Adivasi’ attire Kodyuriv reached Delhi on Monday after covering a three-day train journey from Kerala.

    For several hours, he stood at Jantar Mantar holding placards that read Implement MSP, Save farmer’.

    “Farmers are closest to nature. If they abandon their farm equipment, we won’t be getting any food. I am here for this,” Kodyuriv said.

    Asked why he chose the ‘Adivasi’ attire, he said: “This is to send a message that the farmers and tribal people deserve their rights.

    “Jantar Mantar buzzed with voices of dissent on Monday as farmers from all over the country gathered here demanding a law ensuring minimum support price for crops, farm loan waiver, and sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.

    Ajay Mishra is the father of Ashish Mishra, an accused in a case related to mowing down four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh during a farmer protest last October.

    Farmers, hundreds in number, launched their protest amid heavy security arrangements in a ‘mahapanchayat’ called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) at Jantar Mantar.

    They waved flags, wore caps with the name of their farm organisations inscribed on them, and raised slogans for farmer unity and against the Centre accusing it of not coming good on its promises.

    Farmers protested at the Gazipur border in New Delhi.
    Express video | @parveennegi1. pic.twitter.com/3WRQltgFuQ
    — The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) August 22, 2022
    Magha Nibori, a farmer from Punjab with one acre of farmland which he cultivates with seasonal crops, said he came here fully prepared to stay put, if required.

    Many travelled thousands of kilometres to take part in the mahapanchayat.

    “I am here from Cochin. Around 250 people have come from Kerala and nearby states to urge PM Modi to agree to our demands regarding MSP law, and other issues. We want India to withdraw from the WTO. Ajay Mishra should resign,” said Paulsen, a 50-year-old farmer from Cochin, Kerala.

    Many farmers registered their protests in their own unique ways.

    One of them came wearing a garland of garlic, while another, a woman, wore a saree with tricolours.

    “The government made a promise but now they are not doing anything. There is no concrete action taken by the government. If we can raise a person to power. We can also bring him down. The government should understand this,” Kavita, clad in tricolour print saree, said.

    As farmers associated with different unions reached Delhi, police obstructed their way to the protest site erecting deep layers of barricades across entry points of the city, and checked every vehicle entering the national capital, causing huge traffic jams.

    Besides the borders, Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri, key stretches on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, the Palam flyover, Aurobindo Marg, Ring Road (near Indraprastha Park), the Ghaziabad-Wazirabad road, and the Munirka road, and several other stretches, witnessed traffic snarls.

    Other than north India, farmers from states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Kerala arrived in Delhi to take part in the ‘mahapanchayat.’

  • Punjab farmers squat on rail tracks as part of SKM’s protest against Centre over MSP, Lakhimpur violence

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab farmers squatted on rail tracks at several places as part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s nationwide stir against the Centre “reneging on its promises” made when the protest against now-repealed farm laws was withdrawn last year.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said trains will be stopped from 11 am till 3 pm in Punjab.

    The four-hour protest is likely to disrupt train movement in the state, causing inconvenience to passengers.

    The protesters squatted on rail tracks at several places, including Jalandhar, Phillaur, Ferozepur and Bathinda.

    The demands of the farmers include a legal guarantee for the minimum support price and justice in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, Lakhowal said.

    Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area on October 3 last year.

    Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is accused in the case.

    Farmers are demanding the sacking of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra.

    They are also demanding the withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the anti-farm laws protest last year, compensation to the families of farmers who lost their lives during the stir and rollback of the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the defence forces.

    About the panel on minimum support price formed by the Centre recently, Lakhowal said the government included in the committee officers and farmers who were in favour of the now-repealed farm laws.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kadian) president Harmeet Singh Kadian, participating in the protest at Phillaur railway station, said the farmers were holding the protest on the call given by the SKM.

    Farmers said they were forced to squat on rail tracks as the Centre was “not listening to their demands”.

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab farmers squatted on rail tracks at several places as part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s nationwide stir against the Centre “reneging on its promises” made when the protest against now-repealed farm laws was withdrawn last year.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said trains will be stopped from 11 am till 3 pm in Punjab.

    The four-hour protest is likely to disrupt train movement in the state, causing inconvenience to passengers.

    The protesters squatted on rail tracks at several places, including Jalandhar, Phillaur, Ferozepur and Bathinda.

    The demands of the farmers include a legal guarantee for the minimum support price and justice in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, Lakhowal said.

    Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area on October 3 last year.

    Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is accused in the case.

    Farmers are demanding the sacking of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra.

    They are also demanding the withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the anti-farm laws protest last year, compensation to the families of farmers who lost their lives during the stir and rollback of the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the defence forces.

    About the panel on minimum support price formed by the Centre recently, Lakhowal said the government included in the committee officers and farmers who were in favour of the now-repealed farm laws.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kadian) president Harmeet Singh Kadian, participating in the protest at Phillaur railway station, said the farmers were holding the protest on the call given by the SKM.

    Farmers said they were forced to squat on rail tracks as the Centre was “not listening to their demands”.

  • ‘Farmers will wage fierce battle if there is no law on MSP’: Satya Pal Malik

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday said the farmers’ movement is not over yet and that they will wage a “fierce battle” against the government if it does not bring a law on minimum support price (MSP).

    Speaking at a Jat community programme here, Malik said he will also join the movement once he completes his term as Meghalaya governor.

    Malik has targeted the government several times in the recent past over farmers’ issues.

    “The farmers’ movement is not over yet, it was the dharna which ended. If a law on MSP is not made, then the farmers will wage a fierce battle against the country’s government,” Malik said.

    He said only four months of his tenure as Meghalaya governor are left and he will also join the movement once he completes his term.

    Malik said when the farmers were protesting against the farm laws, he went to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and told him that atrocities were being committed against them.

    He claimed he suggested to the prime minister that he should settle the matter with the farmers but Modi told him that they will end the dharna on their own.

    “I said that they (farmers) will go only after you (PM) are gone,” he added.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, laid siege at Delhi borders in November 2020 demanding that the Centre withdraw its three contentious farm laws.

    The protest ended in December 2021 after the government withdrew the farm laws.

    Hitting out at the Adani Group, Malik asked Modi how the conglomerate is getting richer at a time when the common people are getting destroyed.

    Malik has repeatedly made headlines for his criticism of the Modi government.

    Last month, he said the government hadn’t fulfilled the promises it made to farmers in December last year.

    Withdrawal of cases lodged against farmers during their agitation against the farm laws, legal guarantee on MSP and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the course of the protest were some of the protesters’ demands that the government had agreed to consider before they ended their dharna.

    In January, Malik said when he went to meet Modi on the issue of farmers, the latter was “arrogant” and he had a fight with the prime minister within five minutes.

  • Ahead of Lucknow Mahapanchayat, SKM writes to PM, seeks resumption of talks on MSP

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Digging in their heels, farmer unions said on Sunday they will continue their agitation till the government starts talks with them on their six demands, including a law guaranteeing MSP and the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, even as the Centre prepared to bring bills in Parliament to repeal its three agri laws.

    The agitation spearhead, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), also said the farmers would go ahead with their planned protests, including a mahapanchayat in Lucknow on Monday to press for a law on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a march to Parliament on November 29 to observe one year of anti-farm law protests.

    The umbrella body of agitating farm unions took the decision at its first meeting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Friday announced that the three farm laws will be repealed, fulfilling a major demand of the agitating farmers.

    Government sources said on Sunday the Union Cabinet is likely to take up for approval on Wednesday the bills for rescinding the three farm laws so that they are introduced in the forthcoming winter session.

    In an open letter to Prime Minister Modi, the SKM thanked him for the repeal of the three farm laws, but noted that “after 11 rounds of talks, you chose the path of unilateral declaration rather than a bilateral solution”.

    They put forwards six demands including that MSP based on the comprehensive cost of production be made a legal entitlement of all farmers for all agricultural produce, sacking and arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra in connection with Lakhimpur Kheri incident, withdrawal of cases against farmers and building of a memorial for those who lost their lives during the agitation.

    Mishra’s son was arrested in connection with the death of four protesting farmers in an incident in Lakhimpur Kheri in UP in October.

    While thanking Modi for his decision, the SKM, in the letter, said, “After 11 rounds of talks, you chose the path of unilateral declaration rather than a bilateral solution.”

    “MSP based on the comprehensive cost of production should be made a legal entitlement of all farmers for all agricultural produce so that every farmer of the country can be guaranteed the MSP announced by the government for their entire crop. Withdraw the draft ‘Electricity Amendments Bill, 2020/2021’,” the letter read.

    It also sought removal of penal provisions against farmers in the ‘Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021’.

    The SKM’s demands included the sacking and arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

    Four farmers were allegedly mowed down by an SUV in the Lakhimpur Kheri district, the native place of the Union minister on October 3.

    In the ensuing violence, four people, including a journalist and two BJP workers, were also killed.

    Over a dozen people, including the minister’s son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in the case.

    The letter to the prime minister stated, “Thousands of farmers have been implicated in hundreds of cases during this movement (June 2020 till date) in Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and several other states. These cases should be withdrawn immediately.”

    “During this movement, about 700 farmers have died. There should be compensation and rehabilitation support for their families. Land should be allotted at the Singhu Border to build a memorial for the deceased farmers,” it stated.

    The SKM warned that the agitation will continue till the government resumes talks with it over the six issues listed in the letter.

    “Prime minister, you have appealed to the farmers that we should now go back home. We want to assure you that we are not fond of sitting on the streets. We too desire to return to our homes, families and farming after resolving these issues as soon as possible.”

    “If you want the same, then the government should immediately resume talks with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on the six issues. Till then, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will continue this movement,” they said.

    They also sought removal of penal provisions on farmers in the “Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act 2021” and withdrawal the draft “Electricity Amendments Bill, 2020/2021” proposed by the government “Prime Minister, you have appealed to the farmers that now we should go back home. We want to assure you that we are not fond of sitting on the streets. We too desire that after resolving these other issues as soon as possible, we return to our homes, families and farming.

    “‘If you want the same, then the government should immediately resume talks with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on the above six issues. Till then, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will continue this movement,” the letter said.

    Seeking withdrawal of the three laws, agitating farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are camping at three sites on Delhi’s borders since November last year and have said they will stay put until all their demands are met.

    Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said at a press conference at the Singhu border of Delhi, one of the anti-farm law protest sites, that the SKM will again hold a meeting on November 27 to decide the future course of action.

    ”We discussed the repeal of farm laws. SKM’s pre-decided programmes will continue. Kisan panchayat will be held in Lucknow on November 22, gatherings at all borders on November 26 and march to Parliament on November 29,” he said.

    The opposition parties blamed the government for the situation, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying that “people who have suffered false rhetoric are not ready to believe” the prime minister’s words.

    The Samajwadi Party also questioned the Centre’s intention.

    “It is absolutely clear that their heart is not clean, and after the elections, the bills will be brought again.”

    ”This is the truth of those tendering false apologies to farmers. The farmers will bring a change in 2022,” the SP said in a tweet.

    Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh spoke in a similar vein.

    “Who will take responsibility for 700 deaths that occurred during the farmers’ protest? And the people are not believing this announcement. Several BJP leaders are claiming that the farm laws will be brought back after being repealed,” he said.

    Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut demanded that the kin of those killed during the farers’ agitation be given financial assistance from the PM CARES Fund.

    “The government has now realised its mistake and withdrawn the farm laws.There is a demand from different parts of the country that the kin of the farmers who lost their lives should be financially compensated,” Raut said.

    The opposition parties have put their weight behind the agitating farmers on the issue of Minimum Support Price also.

    Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait urged the people to join ‘MSP Adhikar Kisan Mahapanchaya’ in Lucknow, seen as a show of strength by the unions.

    In a tweet in Hindi, he said, “Chalo Lucknow, Chalo Lucknow (let us go to Lucknow) for MSP Adhikar Kisan Mahapanchayat. The agriculture reforms being talked about are fake and cosmetic.”

    “The farm reforms are not going to stop the plight of the farmers. The biggest reform for the farmers and agriculture will be to make a law on the MSP.”

    Farmer leaders are also demanding the removal of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra.

    “The prime minister has announced the repeal of the three farm laws, but he did not say when the MSP law will be made. Until a law is made on the MSP and Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is removed, the agitation will continue,” Vice-president of Uttar Pradesh unit of BKU Harnam Singh Verma told PTI.

    The Kisan Mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh capital assumes significance since the agriculture-dependent state will be going to polls early next year.

    Lucknow Commissioner of Police D K Thakur said that elaborate security measures have been taken for the event to be held at Eco Garden.

    Meanwhile, reports coming from various districts say that groups of farmers were heading to Lucknow to attend the mahapanchayat.

    Sukhvinder Singh, the father of Gurvinder Singh who was among the four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, said he would be present at the mahapanchayat along with other farmers.

    President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit, who along with his supporters will be participating in mahapanchayat, said that the sacrifice of hundreds of farmers will not be allowed to go in vain.

    “Until all the demands of the protesting farmers are met, the agitation will continue,” he said.

  • 6 demands in SKM open letter to Modi; Cabinet to set ball rolling to nix 3 laws

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH:  The formal process to rollback the three contentious farm laws promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could begin on Wednesday when the Union Cabinet is expected to take up for approval bills seeking their withdrawal. These bills will  then be introduced in Parliament after its winter session begins on November 29.

    At the Singhu border on Sunday, a meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, reiterated its decision to go ahead with the planned march to Parliament to mark one year of their protests. 

    It later wrote an open letter  to Modi listing six demands: legally guaranteed MSP mechanism; withdrawal of draft bill on power sector reforms; withdrawal of measures to penalise farmers burning stubble around Delhi; withdrawal of cases against agitating farmers; sacking Union minister Ajay Mishra for his alleged role in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence; and compensation to the families of the 700 farmers who died during the course of the agitation as also land around Singhu border to build a memorial for them.

    SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “The pre-decided programmes will continue: mahapanchayat in Lucknow on November 22; gatherings at all border points on November 26; and march to Parliament on November 29.” The next course of action will be decided on November 27. Sunday’s meeting also decided to seek the terms of reference of the panel the Centre will set up on MSP, farmer leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal said.  

    Farmers urge PM to set up a talks with themIn its open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, the SKM urged him to open talks with them on the six issues flagged by them. Till then all their agitational programmes will continue, it added

  • MSP next? Farmers head to Lucknow for Monday’s Kisan Mahapanchayat; SKM to meet at November 27

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW/MUZAFFARNAGAR/LAKHIMPUR: Lucknow/Muzaffarnagar/Lakhimpur Kheri, Nov 21 (PTI) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers unions, will hold a mahapanchayat in Lucknow on Monday to press for law guaranteeing MSP and the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

    The gathering, scheduled to be held at Eco Garden in Uttar Pradesh capital, was planned months before Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced repealing the three contentious agri laws.

    The SKM, at a meet in Delhi on Sunday, decided to stick to the date.

    Despite the prime minister’s surprise announcement, farmer leaders have maintained the protesters won’t budge until the three contentious laws are formally repealed in Parliament.

    They have also indicated the sir for a statutory guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

    In a tweet on Sunday, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait gave a call to farmers to gather in Lucknow for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ demanding statutory MSP guarantee.

    In another tweet in Hindi, he claimed, “The farm reforms being talked about by the government is false and cosmetic. These will not end the plight of the farmers. The biggest reform for the farmers and agriculture will be to make a law guaranteeing minimum support price.”

    Vice-president of the BKU’s Uttar Pradesh unit Harnam Singh Verma told PTI, “The prime minister has announced the repeal of the three farm laws, but he did not say when the MSP law will be made. Until a law is made guaranteeing MSP and Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra is removed from his post, the agitation will continue.”

    Four farmers were allegedly mowed down by an SUV in the Lakhimpur Kheri district, the native place of the Union minister on October 3.

    In the ensuing violence, four people, including a journalist and two BJP workers, were also killed.

    Over a dozen people, including the minister’s son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in the case.

    Verma said that apart from MSP and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, many other issues will also be discussed at the farmers’ mahapanchayat on Monday.

    With Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled to be held early next year, the ‘Kisan mahapanchayat’ in the state capital has assumed much significance.

    Farmers are electorally important, particularly in western Uttar Pradesh from where Rakesh Tikiat hails.

    “The BJP had promised during the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections that once it forms government, sugarcane farmers will receive payment within 14 days. But it has not been done. In the last four-and-a-half years, sugarcane price has increased by a bare Rs 25,” Verma said.

    Reports from various districts indicate that farmers will be attending the mahapanchayat in large numbers.

    BKU’s district president of Baghpat Pratap Singh Gurjar and of Muzaffarnagar Yogesh Sharma said that farmers have already left for Lucknow in large numbers.

    “Until all the demands of the protesting farmers are met, the agitation will continue. The prime minister made the announcement with an eye on the upcoming Assembly election in which the BJP is seeing the reins of power slipping away,” president of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit said.

    Amandeep Singh Sandhi, the in-charge of BKU-Tikait’s Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand unit, said that he expects 10,000 to 15,000 farmers from Lakhimpur Kheri to participate in the mahapanchayat.

    Apart from the villages of the farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, several others would attend the mahapanchayat, Bhartiya Kisan Union state secretary Om Prakash Verma told PTI.

    Sukhvinder Singh, the father of Gurvinder Singh, one of the four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, said he would attend the mahapanchayat.

    Lucknow Police Commissioner of D K Thakur said that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’.

    Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will hold another meeting on November 27 to decide future course of action while the planned march to Parliament by farmers on November 29 will go ahead as per schedule, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said on Sunday.

    Addressing a press conference at Singhu border following a meeting, Rajewal said, “We discussed the repeal of farm laws.

    After this, some decisions were taken.

    SKM’s pre-decided programs will continue as it is.

    Kisan panchayat will be held in Lucknow on November 22, gatherings at all borders on November 26 and march to Parliament on November 29”.

    SKM, an umbrella body of the agitating unions, met earlier on Sunday to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue and the proposed daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session.

    Farmer leaders have been maintaining that the protesters will stay put at border areas of Delhi until the Centre formally repeals these laws in Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise announcement on Friday and have indicated their stir for a statutory guarantee of MSP and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.