Farmers protest: Centre proposes five-year plan during 4th round of talks, ball in farmers’ court now

financialexpress.com:

Post the fourth round of talks, the ball is now in the farmers’ court as the Centre proposed the government’s intention to purchase pulses, maize, and cotton crops from farmers at minimum support prices (MSP) for five years through contractual agreements. Following this development, the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was put on hold but may resume on February 21 if issues are not resolved by Tuesday, as reported by PTI.

This development comes after a meeting with ministers in Chandigarh on Sunday, where farmer leaders announced their plan to discuss the government’s proposal in their respective forums on Monday and Tuesday. Subsequently, they will collectively decide on the next steps to be taken.

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The proposal was presented by a panel that included Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, along with Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. The meeting also witnessed the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The demands discussed included securing a legal guarantee for the minimum support price for crops. Notably, thousands of protesting farmers have been stationed at the Punjab-Haryana borders since February 13.

One solution proposed by the Centre is that the government agencies would make agreements with farmers to buy their pulses, maize, and cotton crops at a set minimum support price for the next five years. This new approach is meant to address the concerns of the protesting farmers. The farmers’ leaders are expected to decide on this proposal after further discussions in the coming days.

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