Farmer leaders reject Centre’s MSP proposal, to resume ‘Dilli Chalo’ march from Wednesday

“We stand by our demand of legal guarantee for MSP on all 23 crops,” he told reporters.

Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarvan Singh Pandher said the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest would resume at 11 am Wednesday. “We will start marching towards Delhi. We should be allowed to protest. We have every right to launch an agitation. There is no need for any meeting. The government should take decisions now. There have been enough discussions,” he said, adding that the Haryana-Punjab borders should be opened for them.

“We appeal to the government to either accept our demands or let us go to Delhi,” he said, adding that the protesting farmers did not want to break the barricades. “But nobody listens to us. We have been trying not to cause harm to anyone…. We do not want anyone to lose his life. But this government is not listening…”

He alleged that the government’s intent was questionable. “The Union ministers kept telling us inside the meeting that the proposal was for all the farmers across the country. But after they came out, they started saying that only those farmers would get MSP on pulses, maize and cotton, who will diversify from paddy,” he claimed, referring to the fourth round of talks in Chandigarh on Sunday to find a resolution.

Farm leaders Sarvan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal address reporters in Patiala. (PTI)

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai participated in the meeting with the farmer leaders along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Dallewal said that according to the Union ministers, the MSP on pulses alone will cost the government Rs 1.5 lakh crore. “We have calculations from experts who say that the MSP on all 23 crops will cost the exchequer Rs 1.75 lakh crore. We spend Rs 1.75 lakh crore on palm oil imports. The palm oil is already responsible for so many diseases in the country. If the government announces MSP on oil seeds, then Rs 1.75 lakh crore can be saved on these imports.”

Emerging from Sunday’s meeting, which ended after midnight, Goyal had announced the Centre’s proposal. According to the proposal, government cooperative agencies, including NCCF and NAFED, will procure maize and three pulses – Arhar, Urad and Moong – and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will procure cotton produce after the MSP is decided upon by CACP. For this, the farmers and these agencies will get into a legal contract of five years, he said.

Goyal said the farmer leaders had pointed to the rising desertification in Punjab due to water sources drying up, and this led to a discussion on diversification. “We discussed how the cultivation of pulses could reduce imports, conserve water in Punjab, help soil health and boost farmers’ income,” he told reporters.

On Monday, Pandher said that the proposal was actually contract farming in the name of diversification. It will only benefit those farmers, who diversify from paddy. “We took time to discuss so that the people of the country do not say that the farmers do not accept any proposal. But this was a cunning move of the government,” he said.

“This is a reflection on the intent of the government. We want the government to make a proposal on all crops. We want MSP legal guarantee legislation. The Government of India should tell us what study it has done on the debt waiver…”

Referring to the presence of Chief Minister Mann at their meeting with the Union ministers, Dallewal said they wanted him to attend the meeting. “We wanted to tell him that he is the CM and teargas shells and other ammunition were being lobbed in our state. That is why we wanted him in the meeting. But no notice has been taken yet,” he said.

“Today, the Haryana DGP has stated that they have not used pellet guns (on the protesting farmers) and not even used teargas shells. We want to tell him that if the DGP has not done it, then who has done it. Why is the Haryana government not taking action against those people? The Supreme Court should also take suo motu notice,” Dallewal said.

Earlier in the day, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded the 2020-21 stir and is not part of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ call, rejected the Centre’s offer, saying it seeks to “divert and dilute” the farmers’ demand for MSP and they will accept nothing less than the ‘C-2 plus 50 per cent’ formula for MSP as recommended in the Swaminathan Commission report.