Farmers protest: Centre proposes 5-year plan at round 4 talks, all eyes on next step

The fourth round of talks between the protesting farmers’ leaders and the Union government concluded on late Sunday night.

During the meeting, the Centre proposed some ideas, including a five-year plan, following which the farmers have put a hold on the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, general secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Sarwan Singh Pandher said.

“We will discuss proposals given by Centre with fellow farmers, take opinions of experts…We will discuss on this (government’s proposal) over the next two days and the government will also deliberate. We hope for a positive result, else we will continue with our Delhi Chalo march,” Pandher told the media.

Agriculture and farmer welfare minister Arjun Munda, minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal and minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai reached the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Chandigarh Sector 26 for the meeting. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the talks, which began at 8.15pm on Sunday and ended at around 1am on Monday.

What did the government propose?

The panel of three Union ministers, who held the meeting with farmer leaders proposed a five-year plan buying of pulses, maize, and cotton crops by government agencies at minimum support prices.

“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” union minister Piyush Goyal said.

The minister also said that there will be no limit on the quantity purchased and a portal will be developed.

“It will save Punjab’s farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the land from getting barren which is already under stress,” Goyal said.

The Centre also proposed that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will buy cotton from farmers at an MSP for five years through a legal agreement.

Why are the farmers protesting and what are their demands?

More than 200 farmers’ unions, including the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been participating in the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march that began on February 13, to press the Centre to accept several demands. On the fifth day of their march on Sunday, the farmers stayed put at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border.

The farm bodies are demanding a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) – a condition they had set in 2021 when they agreed to withdraw their agitation against the now-repealed farm laws. They are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pensions for farmers and farm labourers, and farm debt waiver.