Agriculture minister says ‘progressive’ Haryana farmers submitted memorandum backing new farm laws

Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar mentioned on Saturday a bunch of “progressive farmers’ leaders” have submitted a memorandum supporting the three farm legal guidelines liberalising agricultural markets, which have triggered protests by agriculturists close to the nationwide capital’s borders and throughout the nation. The farm minister’s feedback got here after his assembly with farmers’ leaders from Haryana at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.

“They also shared their experiences on how these laws are benefitting them,” Tomar was quoted as saying by information company ANI.

Farmers principally from Punjab and Haryana have led the agitation since final month and have been protesting in and across the Capital.

According to PTI, a delegation of 29 farmers from Haryana met agriculture minister Tomar to increase their help to the brand new laws and threatened to stage a protest if these are repealed. The delegation was led by Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (Mann) Haryana state chief Guni Prakash and it submitted a “letter of support” to Tomar on the farm legal guidelines handed by Parliament in September and demanded that the federal government should proceed with these legal guidelines.

“We will also protest if the government repeals the laws. We have given a memorandum to all districts,” Prakash instructed reporters after the assembly. “Everyone has a right to protest. They have, so do we. We are in support of the three laws, but this protest is being led by Leftists and those who are violent,” he mentioned.

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Prakash additionally claimed that the continued farmers’ agitation is not a peasant motion. “It has taken a political colour. Farmers will get real freedom through these three laws,” he mentioned.

This was the second group of farmers from Haryana which met Tomar and prolonged help to the farm legal guidelines. The first group had met the minister on December 7.

The chief of Sanyukta Kisan Andolan Kamal Preet Singh Pannu had earlier within the day that farmers’ leaders will go on starvation strike on December 14 at Delhi’s Singhu border, PTI reported. “If the government wants to hold talks, we are ready. But we will first discuss the repeal of the three legislation,” Pannu mentioned demanding the whole withdrawal of the three legal guidelines.

“On December 14, all farmer leaders will sit on a fast sharing same stage at Singhu border. We want government to take back three Farm bills, we’re not in favour of amendments,” he mentioned.

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Tomar’s assembly with the farmers’ group got here hours after Haryana’s deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala met agriculture minister Tomar and defence minister Rajnath Singh. The Jannayak Janta Party chief had mentioned after the conferences that he mentioned the matter with the Union ministers and expressed hope {that a} approach shall be discovered with mutual consent.

Chautala additionally expressed hope that the ultimate spherical of talks between the federal government and farmers’ unions over the farm legal guidelines shall be held throughout the subsequent 24 to 48 hours and they’ll attain a conclusion over the problem, in keeping with ANI. “The way Centre is holding talks they also want a resolution of the issue. I am hopeful that in 24 to 48 hours final round of talks will be held between the central government and farmers’ leaders and will lead to a conclusive result,” Chautala mentioned.

“It is my responsibility as a representative of farmers to secure their rights. I discussed the matter with Union Ministers, I am hopeful that a way will be found with mutual consent and the standoff will be resolved. The Centre is positive,” he instructed ANI.

The Centre and the agitating farmers have held not less than six rounds of talks thus far and no breakthrough has been thus far. Farmers have caught to their demand for a repeal of the legal guidelines, regardless of the federal government sending them a draft proposal to amend particular points with out abolishing the legislations.

The three legal guidelines, the federal government has mentioned, will take away the middlemen and permit farmers to promote their produce wherever within the nation. However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these legal guidelines would pave the way in which for eliminating the protection cushion of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and scrap the mandis or wholesale markets, leaving them on the mercy of massive corporates. The Centre has maintained the MSP scheme and the mandi system would proceed and would reasonably be improved and strengthened additional.

(With company inputs)