Dilli Chalo March Temporarily On Hold After Meeting With Union Ministers (image-twitter/Ra_Bies)
After the fourth meeting between the union ministers and farmers” leaders on Sunday over their listed demands, the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march has been put on hold.
Union ministers including Agriculture and farmer welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai spoke with the farmer leaders in Chandigarh at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration.
Punjab minister Bhagwat Mann joined the meeting which began at 8:15 pm on Sunday and ended at around 1 am on Monday.
While talking to the reporters after the meeting, Piyush Goyal said that the panel has proposed the buying of pulses, maize, and cotton crops by government agencies at minimum support prices for five years AFTER entering into an agreement with farmers, reports NDTV.
He added that cooperative societies like the NCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize for buying their crops at MSP for next five years. “There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this,” he said.
On the Centre’s proposal, the farmers” leaders said that they will discuss it in forums on February 19-20 and will take the opinion of experts regarding it and will take a decision accordingly. As of now, the farmer leaders have decided to temporarily halt the protest, which will resume at 11 am on February 21 if the issues aren’t resolved, reports India Today.
However, the discussion on loan waivers and other demands is still pending but is expected to be resolved in the next two days. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha also said that they will not accept anything less than the MSP recommended in the Swaminathan Commission report.
The Union ministers met with the farmers earlier on February 8, 12, and 15. However, the talks remained inconclusive.
The farmers from Punjab have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri points on the state’s border with Haryana since February 13 when their march was halted by police.
Meanwhile, the Haryana government on Saturday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts till February 19.
