Farmers likely to call off agitation today
Item
Title
Farmers likely to call off agitation today
Description
As in the initial proposal, the Centre clarified that the SKM leaders would be included among farmer representatives on the committee, but did not accede to the demand that other farm organisations should be excluded. No changes were made to the proposal’s clauses regarding compensation for those who died during the protest, the draft Electricity Bill or the criminalisation of stubble burning. There was no mention at all of the farmers’ sixth demand for the dismissal of Minister of State for Home Ashish Mishra Teni for his alleged role in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Among leaders from U.P. and Maharashtra, areas where existing MSP procurement is not as strong as in Punjab and Haryana, there is a sense of resignation that their concrete demand for an MSP law has been diluted into a mere committee to discuss the issue. “The Punjab farmers may have achieved their major goals, but for the rest of the country, their problems are not yet over. It is very clear that we will have to launch a nationwide struggle for MSP, and also for loan waivers,” said All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale, who was part of the SKM’s five-member negotiating team. “The Punjab farmers will also have a stake in the MSP struggle, as we are fighting for the Swaminathan Commission formula to be adopted,” he added.
Publisher
The Hindu
Date
2021-12-09
Coverage
December 09 2021 00:00 IST