Farmers Reject Government's MSP Proposal; Delhi Chalo To Continue (image: twitter.com/samitakaur74)
Farmer leaders leading Delhi Chalo march on Monday rejected the Centre”s proposal of buying pulses, maize, and cotton at Minimum Support Price (MSP) by government agencies for five years. Dismissing the proposal, the leaders claimed that these are not in the farmers” best interest. Then, they stated that they will continue their march to Delhi on Wednesday.
As per the latest update, the farmers will peacefully move to the national Capital at 11 am on February 21. Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni said on Monday said that if the Centre fails to address their demand by the said date, the agitation will extend to Haryana as well.
The Centre made the proposal on Sunday during the fourth round of talks with the protesting farmer leaders and a panel of three Union ministers participated in it.
Rejecting the idea, the farmers claimed that the proposed MSP for specific crops is only supporting a select group of farmers, and it negates the broader concerns of all farmers. Farmers put forward an alternative suggestion of utilising the allocated Rs 1.75 lakh crore for diverse crops, and underlined the critical importance of a legal guarantee for MSP to effectively address their multifaceted grievances, Economic Times reports.
Consequently, the protesting farmers announced their decision to march to the national capital on February 21 and it involves two purposes; resolution to their demands and urging permission for peaceful protests in Delhi.
Glimpses from #FarmerProtest2024 #FarmersProtest2 #FarmersProtest
Also, a message from Agricultural Scientists and Economists in layman”s words
” If Govt was sincere it could have found a solution to farmers’ problems like MSP etc by now. It”s been more than two years since… pic.twitter.com/LdmBjbn3No— Samita Kaur (@samitakaur74) February 20, 2024
The primary demand of farmers involves a legal guarantee of MSP for all 23 crops, and implementation of Swaminathan Commission report for fair remuneration.
Meanwhile, the Haryana government, in response to Delhi Chalo protest, continued the suspension of mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts till February 20. Thousands of agitating farmers are halted at the Punjab-Haryana border since they are stopped by the security personnel. Similarly, internet services are currently suspended in seven districts of Punjab.
