Punjab farmer leaders say Centre must reply to demands by Nov 30; SKM meeting on Dec 1

Terming the repeal of the farm laws in Parliament a victory of the protesters, farmer leaders from Punjab demanded a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) of crops and said an emergency meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on December 1 will decide their future course of action.

Referring to their six demands, including legal guarantee for MSP and withdrawal of cases against farmers and compensation for those who died during the agitation, the leaders of 32 farmer unions from Punjab during a press meet at the Singhu border said on Monday the Centre has time till Tuesday to reply. Both the Houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill on the first day of the Winter Session. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on November 19 that the three farm legislations, against which the farmers have been protesting for over a year, will be repealed.

”This is a victory for us. We want withdrawal of cases against farmers and a committee to be formed on the legal guarantee of MSP for crops.

”The Centre has time till tomorrow (Tuesday) to reply to our demands. We have called an emergency meeting of SKM on Wednesday to discuss the future course of action,” a farmer leader said.

The repeal of these three legislations has been one of the key demands of around 40 farmer unions protesting at various Delhi border points since November 26, 2020.

On November 21, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) — an umbrella body of farmer unions leading the protests — had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately resume talks on the farmers’ six demands, including a legal guarantee for the procurement of crops at MSP.