As the farmers’ protest and nationwide march towards Delhi entered its third day on Thursday, several farmers’ unions extended their support as ministers are set to meet farmer leaders for the third time Thursday evening. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) and BKU Dakaunda (Dhaner faction) also announced a ‘rail roko’ in Punjab on Thursday from noon and 4 in the evening. Samyukt Kisan Morcha along with 37 farm unions supports the protests as they demand a guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has confirmed that farmer leaders will meet union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai Thursday evening for further talks. It will be the third round of talks amid the sta nd-off between cops and protesters near the Punjab/Haryana and Delhi border. The protesters had declared the last meeting inconclusive and called for the march which is being obstructed by cops near borders of Delhi. Media reports also suggested that defence minister Rajnath Singh met agriculture minister Munda ahead of the talks with the farmer representatives.
Traffic affected due amid protests
The Haryana-Delhi borders near Tikri and Singhu are completely closed while heavily monitored traffic is allowed on the Gurugram border as well as Ghazipur border amid the protests. The layers of barricading including barbed wires, nails, concrete blocks, and containers continue in place as the cops claim to avoid any repeat of the violent farmers’ protest that took place in 2020-21 protests leaving several dead.
Demands of the farmers and what the govt has done in past three years
Apart from a guaranteed MSP, the protesters have urged for the conviction of the Lakhimpur Kheri accused and also demanded implementation of the Swaminathan committee report.
Around seven months after the protest near Delhi border ended in 2021, the central government announced the formation of an MSP panel in July 2022. Set to be headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Aggarwal, the panel were to have members from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and NITI Ayog’s Ramesh Chand; agricultural economists Dr Sukhpal Singh, Dr CSC Shekhar, Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, Binod Anand, among others. However, SKM has claimed that no members from their organization has been appointed to the panel.