Farmers Reject Government's MSP Proposal, Volatility Expected at Delhi Borders
Protests Set to Resume as Farmer Leaders Dismiss Contract Offer
Leaders of the protesting farmers have turned down the government's offer of a five-year contract to purchase three varieties of pulses, maize, and cotton at the previous minimum support price.
On the Haryana-Punjab border, outside Delhi, there is expected to be further volatility starting on Wednesday when farmers plan to restart their march.
The MSP plan was criticized by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organization of farmer unions that is not involved in the current demonstrations, hours before the statement by farmer leaders.
Leader of the protesting farmers, Sarwan Singh Pandher, told a press conference on Monday at the Shambhu border, which separates Punjab and Haryana, that the idea was unacceptable and that the farmers will peacefully continue their march towards Delhi on Wednesday.
Leader of the farmers, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, said in Hindi the grounds for his rejection of the plan: "We have reviewed the proposal that the government presented (on Sunday night). The MSP applying to just two or three crops and leaving the other farmers on their own is incomprehensible.
In an attempt to break the deadlock over the farmers' demand for a legislation guaranteeing MSPs for 23 crops, the Center proposed to purchase five commodities at MSPs for a period of five years.
The two collectives leading the current protest, the non-political Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, had first declared a two-day delay of their scheduled march to Delhi after the offer.
During the 'Delhi Chalo' protest march, farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal spoke to the media at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border.
PTI image
They had communicated to the central ministers they were in negotiations with that they would first seek input from their unions before responding to the offer.
The government's proposal was associated with its efforts to diversify its agricultural base. The government was ready to buy three pulses, tur, urad, and masoor, in addition to cotton and maize, at MSPs for five years via central cooperatives like Nafed, NCCF, and the Cotton Corporation of India, the union leaders were told.
These cooperatives were to ensure that they would purchase products from farmers via five-year contracts.
The 23 crops for which the government sets the MSPs yearly are the subject of the farmers' demand for legally guaranteed MSPs. In addition, they want that the MSP rates follow a formula developed by the Swaminathan Commission.
Although they are aware that it is impractical, they are not requesting that the government purchase all of the nation's agricultural output at these prices. They want to keep the present procurement going, but with a legal framework that guarantees the MSP as the standard so that farmers are not pressured by the market to sell below it.
The five-crop, five-year plan was categorically rejected by the main SKM group, from which the SKM (non-political) split off. They described it as an attempt to "divert and dilute the demand of MSP @ C2 + 50% (Swaminathan Commission formula that that MSP should be 1.5 times the farmer’s input costs) for all crops with guaranteed procurement.”
This organization has been organizing public opinion in favor of the farmers' demands via its own protest activities, even if it is not taking part in the present agitation.
If this was the offer on the table, other farmer unions had said, it shouldn't be restricted to only five crops. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni)'s Gurnam Singh Charuni has said that oilseeds and millets should also be included in the offer.
