Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab farmer leaders walk out of meeting with Union agriculture secretary

Representatives of farmer unions from Punjab walked out of a meeting with Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal at Krishi Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday, saying they were expecting to meet Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar who could decide on their demands to repeal the three farm laws. With the meeting ending on an inconclusive note, the farmer union leaders said the rail blockade and protests will continue even as they meet in Chandigarh on Thursday to decide on the further course of action. “We accepted the Centre’s invite for talks but were disappointed. Contrary to our suggestion, there was no one at the meeting who could decide on our demands,” said Jagmohan Singh Patiala, the general secretary of Bharti Kisan Union (Dakounda), a key farm union of Punjab. When Agarwal tried to pacify the seven farmer representatives, asking them to stay for talks, they handed over their memorandum of demands and walked out. “We refused to talk to him (Agarwal) but we gave him the memorandum in which we have demanded that the new laws be repealed. We want the minimum support price (MSP) on all crops to be made a legal right for farmers and open-ended procurement should be guaranteed. The proposed power bill that the Centre plans to adjudicate should also not be introduced as it will further hit farmers,” Patiala said. BID TO DELAY DECISION ON DEMANDS: FARMERS On the “competent authority”, he said: “We were expecting Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar or at least the minister of state to talk to us, but we were made to meet the agriculture secretary. We see this as an attempt to delay decision-making on our demands.” The farm union activists have laid siege to key rail routes in Punjab since September 24, impacting the supply of the essential services such as coal for the state’s thermal power generation units, the movement of foodgrains to consumer states from Punjab’s godowns, and the supply of fertilisers such as di-ammonium phosphate and urea needed for sowing Rabi crops. After the Centre invited the farm unions for talks, 29 farm bodies of the 30 protesting against the farm laws nominated seven spokespersons. ANTI-GOVT SLOGANS RAISED OUTSIDE KRISHI BHAWANOn coming out of Krishi Bhawan, the farm union representatives raised anti-government slogans. They were joined by at least 50 representatives of different farm bodies had gathered outside the meeting venue.Police personnel were deployed outside Krishi Bhawan to avert any untoward incident.

Hindustan Times

14-10-2020

Chandigarh