Farmers end protest after assurance from Haryana govt over sunflower MSP

After the meeting, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that after fresh talks with the district administration, farmers have ended their protest in Kurukshetra’s Pipli. The national highway blockade will be lifted soon.

“We are ending our protest. The blocked roads will be opened today (Tuesday). We were protesting so that our crops are purchased at minimum support price (MSP). We will keep fighting for MSP across the country. Our leaders will also be released soon. Cases filed against our leaders will be taken back,” Tikait told media persons in Kurukshetra.

“Farmers have been assured of an appropriate price for their crop. Their other concerns are also being considered,” Shantanu Sharma said.

The national highway in Pipli had remained blocked for the second day on Tuesday over the farmers’ demand for MSP for sunflower seeds.

On Monday and during the day on Tuesday, there had not been any headway in talks between the farmers and the district administration, but the breakthrough finally came in on Tuesday evening.

Tikait had earlier asked the state government to accept the demands or send farmers to jail.

The farmers had been demanding that the state government procure sunflower seeds at an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal.
Under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana – price difference payment scheme – the state government was giving Rs 1,000 per quintal as interim support for sunflower crop sold below the MSP.

Earlier during the day when the initial talks ended in deadlock, the farmers had said that they will intensify their protest. Rakesh Tikait had said, “It looks like we will have to intensify the protest and make it bigger. The farmers are demanding only what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on MSP. It is Haryana Chief Minister (Manohar Lal Khattar) who is not implementing it in the state. Farmers are being defamed by saying that they are blocking the highways but nothing is being said on the issue of MSP. The farmers will not be defeated.” But Superintendent of
Police Surinder Singh Bhoria was optimistic who said, “The issue will be resolved soon.”

The two major demands of the farmers were – MSP guarantee on sunflower crop and immediate release of farmer leaders, including Gurnam Singh Chaduni, who were arrested on June 6 during a protest.

The protesting farmers had blocked NH-44 since 2 pm on Monday. An ultimatum was given to the Haryana government to meet the demands but after getting no satisfactory response, the farmers on Tuesday afternoon even started pitching tents in the middle of the highway even as the traffic diversions for Delhi and Chandigarh-bound vehicles continued.

On Tuesday, the state government had also released an advertisement citing how Haryana is purchasing sunflower at the highest rate compared to the other states, and it asked the farmers – is blocking the national highway a step in the right direction?

Through the advertisement, the Haryana government claimed that “on June 12, 2023 – the market price of sunflower crop was Rs 4,077 per quintal in Karnataka, Rs 4,000 in Punjab, Rs 3,550 in Tamil Nadu, Rs 3,840 in Maharashtra and Rs 3,975 in Gujarat”. It further stated, “In Haryana, the price for sunflower crop was Rs 4,900 and the Haryana government has also recently released an interim relief of an additional Rs 1,000, making it to Rs 5,900 per quintal in the state.”

Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sharma had earlier issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC barring unlawful assembly of five or more persons in Kurukshetra. However, despite the prohibitory orders, huge numbers of farmers gathered at Pipli and blocked the national highway.

Meanwhile, because of the blockade on NH-44, commuters travelling between Delhi and Chandigarh had a harrowing time since Monday afternoon as protesting farmers refused to remove their tractor-trolleys from the highway near Pipli. Thousands of vehicles, including trucks carrying perishable goods, remained stranded on the highway for long hours.