Talks inconclusive, Punjab farmers to set out for Delhi today

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher were among those present at the meeting with Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda and officials.

Ahead of the talks, police in Haryana and Delhi barricaded roads leading to the Capital and deployed personnel to stop the march.

Emerging from the meeting, Dallewal said, “No decision was taken at the meeting. Our protest will continue and we will move towards Delhi at 10 am tomorrow.”

“There was no new proposal. There were only old proposals. We did not want any confrontation this time. We wanted discussion on every point. But the government is not straight. It just wants to waste our time. They asked for more time. We told the government to take the decision today itself. But nothing was forthcoming,” he said.

Barricades being put up at Delhi’s Ghazipur border on Monday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Pandher said the government kept seeking time. “There is no consensus. They wasted five hours. There was nothing new. The main demands of the farmers were a legislation on assured MSP on 23 crops and debt waiver. But they did not move further.”

Agriculture Minister Munda told reporters that they came personally to find a solution to the issue. “We came here as a representative of the Government of India. There were some issues on which we reached a consensus. There were some issues that needed a permanent resolution. We said there should be a committee.”

“Still, we believe any issue can be sorted with dialogue. We hope we will be able to find a solution to this issue. We will keep protecting the rights of the farmers. We are hopeful that the farmers organisations will continue with the dialogue and we will work together to find a resolution in the coming days. We still invite them for a dialogue,” Munda said.

But Baldev Singh Sirsa, another farmer leader, said the government was not ready to accept any of their demands. “There was no offer. The government did not have any intention to sort out the issue,” he said, adding that the meeting was inconclusive. “We put forth our demands. They went away from earlier demands also. They do not want to talk about any legal guarantee on MSP. “

Ranjit Singh Raju, a farmer leader from Rajasthan, said they too will march towards Delhi Tuesday. “They offered the constitution of a committee and said they will engage with us. This dialogue has been going on for quite some time now… Our supporters have reached Fatehgarh Sahib. They will start marching towards Delhi at 10 am tomorrow.”

The meeting started at 6 pm and ended shortly before midnight. A farmer leader said they patiently listened to the Central ministers but when they found that there was no solution in sight for the MSP guarantee, they walked out of the meeting. Efforts were made to call them back but they decided not to return.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who had earlier mediated the meeting between the Centre and farmers organisations, was not part of the talks Monday – he was in Ayodhya along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The CM, sources said, had instead deputed State Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal.