Farmers Protest: Government again invited farmers' organizations for talks, Agriculture Minister said - it is necessary to maintain peace

Till now, no agreement has been reached between the Central Government and farmer organizations on the formula to resolve many other issues including MSP. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda has once again invited the farmers for the fifth round of talks. He also gave details of the talks between the two sides in the fourth round.

What did Arjun Munda say?

Munda said, "Taking cognizance of the response received from farmer organizations after the fourth round of talks, we are ready for the fifth round of meetings and talks on issues like demand for MSP, crop diversification, issue of stubble." My appeal is that they should maintain peace and our effort is to find a solution through talks."

It is noteworthy that Arjun Munda had also reacted on Tuesday to the announcement of farmers to march to Delhi again from February 21. He had said that farmer leaders have rejected the government's proposal on MSP. I appeal to farmers and farmer organizations to maintain peace. He also talked about discussing the issues to resolve them. In his appeal to the farmers, he said that we should keep discussing the issue, we all want peace and we all have to find a solution to the problem together.

We have to continue the discussion for a solution- Arjun Munda

Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said that efforts were made for discussion by our government, and many proposals were also discussed. We later learned that the farmer was not happy with the proposal. Appealing to the farmer organizations, he said that we will have to continue the discussion for the solution because we will have to find the solution peacefully.

What did the farmer organizations say about the government's proposals?

The agitating farmer organizations including Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) have rejected the proposal put forward by the Centre. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was part of the talks, has expressed doubts over the government's intentions. Dallewal stressed the need for the government to formulate a comprehensive formula for MSP covering all 23 crops. Dallewal said that he will not be involved in any kind of contract process for the legal guarantee of MSP on crops. Dallewal said that he held talks with all the farmer organizations, but could not agree on the proposal of contracts for five years on five crops.

What proposals did the government make before the farmers?

In the farmers' movement that started on 13 February, the biggest demand of the farmer organizations is regarding the minimum support price i.e. MSP. He says that according to the report of the Swaminathan Commission, MSP was given on crops. This demand was prominent in the last farmer movement also. The last talks to discuss the solution were held on 18 February. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda, and Nityanand Rai participated in it on behalf of the government. According to Piyush Goyal, the government together proposed a very simple idea. Cooperative societies like the government-backed National Cooperative Consumers (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) will agree for the next five years. Under this contract, the committees will purchase products from farmers at MSP, with no limit on quantity. According to the government, these committees are ready to purchase three pulses, arhar, urad, and lentils, apart from cotton and maize, at MSP.

Also Read: Farmers Protest: Demand for maize and pulses, yet farmers forced to sell below MSP; Falling graph of cotton cultivation