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New Delhi: The year-long protest at the borders of Delhi was called off on Thursday after the central government and farmers’ groups reached an agreement on five of the six pending demands of the protesting farmers.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer groups leading the protests, received a letter from the government on Thursday with revised proposals to address their pending demands. The letter was signed by Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. ThePrint has accessed a copy of this letter.
The SKM later held a meeting at Delhi’s Singhu border and called off the protest.
According to the letter, in relation to the farmers’ demand for a law guaranteeing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for food grains, the government has agreed to constitute a committee. It has also agreed to discuss the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with farmer groups before it is introduced in Parliament.
The government has promised compensation for farmers killed during the protests, and said it would appeal to states to withdraw cases registered against farmers during the agitation. It has also exempted farmers from criminal liability under anti-pollution laws for burning crop stubble.
Although the letter of the government is silent on this SKM demand Regarding the removal of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on 3 October.
The SKM, in a statement on Thursday, said that it “formally announces the removal of fronts along the borders of Delhi on national highways and several other places”.
“The current movement is suspended… SKM dedicates the glorious and historic victory of the struggle to about 715 martyrs of the movement including Lakhimpur Kheri. SKM to all the protesting farmers and citizens and their supporters for the unprecedented struggle and glorious gains of the movement. Heartfelt congratulations for
However, the leaders of the farmers’ organization did not comment on why they demanded the removal of the Union minister. Three controversial agriculture laws, which mainly triggered protests, were repealed by the Modi government in the ongoing winter session.
Read also: India cannot settle the demand for MSP in a hurry. It can cause chaos, long-term damage.
Agricultural law and six demands
The three contentious laws were the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. When they were enacted, the opposition accused the government of pursuing them without discussion.
While the central government said the laws sought to open up the country’s food market for greater participation of private players and bring much-needed reforms in the agriculture sector, farmer groups said they would favor large corporations and affect farmers’ livelihoods. do.
The protests against the laws started in Punjab and eventually spread to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and many other states. Large groups of protesters gathered at the borders of Delhi – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur – and stayed there for a year. SKM said on Thursday that the farmers were on the borders of Delhi. Will return home on December 11,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 November announced the withdrawal of three controversial agriculture laws. Parliament passed a bill to repeal them without any debate on 29 November.
However, the farmers continued their protest even after the law was repealed. He upheld the demand for a law guaranteeing MSP. This is the minimum rate at which the government should procure food grains (applicable to 23 crops) from farmers. It currently functions largely as a policy measure without statutory backing.
Farmer groups also demanded withdrawal of cases registered against farmers in the states during the agitation. Most of these involved charges like rioting and unlawful assembly.
Additionally, they sought exemption from criminal liability under anti-pollution laws for burning crop stubble, compensation for families of farmers killed during protests, and withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was introduced in Parliament. To be done. ongoing session.
Along with this, the farmers demanded the dismissal of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. On 3 October, a convoy that included a vehicle owned by the minister, in which his son was one of the suspected passengers, allegedly ran over a group of protesting farmers, triggering violence. A total of 8 people had died.
The SKM and the central government, farmer leaders and government officials had held talks for the last two days before reaching an agreement, he told ThePrint. He said the proposals were sent back and forth several times between the government and the five-member SKM negotiating team.
Read also: MoS Ajay Mishra should have been sacked immediately after Lakhimpur speech: Satya Pal Malik
revised proposal
In a revised resolution to address the MSP issue, the government has agreed to constitute a committee that will include representatives of the SKM, as well as officials from the central and state governments. According to the government’s letter to the SKM, it has said that it will not reduce the current level of procurement of food grains at assured prices.
The government also said that the police cases registered against farmers during the agitation would be withdrawn. “While the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have already agreed to withdraw the cases, the central government will also appeal to other state governments to withdraw cases against farmers,” the amended resolution said. .
It also assured farmers that they would be exempted from criminal liability under anti-pollution laws for cases related to crop stubble burning. According to senior government officials and two farmer leaders, the government had indicated during its talks with farmer unions in December 2020 that it would accede to the demand without any hassle.
The government also agreed to provide compensation for farmers killed in the protest, adding that the Punjab government had already announced their payments, and Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had also agreed in this regard.
The central government has also agreed to hold discussions with farmer groups before introducing the Electricity (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
Read also: What did the peasant movement achieve? Original movement Gandhi, Gandhi has an answer
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