Government to Meet with Farmers Protesting in Chandigarh Today
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Synopsis
The government will meet protesting farmers in Chandigarh to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee on MSP for crops. The meeting comes after a year of protests at the Punjab-Haryana border.
Key Takeaways
- Government meeting with protesting farmers.
- Focus on legal guarantee for MSP.
- Farmers have protested for over a year.
- Key leaders attending the discussions.
- Initial meeting time was adjusted.
Chandigarh, Feb 14 (NationPress) The government is set to convene a meeting with farmers who have been protesting on Friday afternoon in Chandigarh to address their longstanding demands, which include a legal assurance on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
The farmers have been engaged in a sit-in demonstration for over a year at Shambhu, the border area separating Punjab and Haryana.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher informed the press at Shambhu, where a Mahapanchayat was conducted on Thursday to commemorate one year of the protest, that they aim to persuade the government to meet the farmers' demands.
Farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border since November 26 of the previous year, will attend the meeting with senior officials from the Union government. Dallewal, the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), will be transported by ambulance from the Khanauri protest site to Chandigarh for the discussions. He agreed to receive medical assistance following the government's invitation for dialogue.
Initially scheduled for 5 p.m., the discussions on Friday will commence at 4 p.m. due to farmers' requests.
Dallewal's Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) and Pandher's Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC), operating under the umbrella of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political), have been stationed at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders since February 13 last year after law enforcement thwarted their attempt to march to Delhi to advocate for their demands.
A delegation of senior officials from the Union Agriculture Ministry, led by joint secretary Priya Ranjan, met with farm leaders on January 19 and invited representatives of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha for a meeting to address their demands on February 14.
Last month, farmer leader Pandher announced the delay of a foot march to Delhi by 101 farmers, urging the Central government to engage in discussions regarding their demands promptly.
“It’s not a condition but a request,” the convener of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha stated to the media at Shambhu, appealing to the government to arrange a meeting in Delhi prior to February 14, rather than in Chandigarh as originally suggested. However, this meeting did not take place.
Previously, law enforcement employed tear gas as protesting farmers attempted to march towards Delhi at the Shambhu border on three occasions.
Shambhu, located near Ambala on National Highway-1, became a focal point for the farmers' protest over the past year. The 13-month-long agitation of farmers, primarily from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, at Delhi's borders concluded after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government's decision to repeal three controversial farm laws on November 19, 2021. Thousands of farmers had been stationed at the Delhi border points demanding the repeal of these laws, along with a legal guarantee for the MSP for their crops.
