SKM forms committee for talks with govt; demand for legal guarantee of MSP continues

In a marathon meeting at the Singhu border on Saturday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) decided to form a five-member committee to hold talks with the government. The committee will take up a host of issues, including Minimum Support Price (MSP), for the talks. The outcome of the talks with the government will be placed before the SKM on December 7. Although the government has not extended any invitation to the SKM for talks as yet, there is a strong possibility that talks may start soon.

The SKM committee includes Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Yudhvir Singh and farmer leaders Gurnam Singh Charuni from Haryana, Balbir Singh Rajewal from Punjab, Shiv Kumar Kakka from Madhya Pradesh and Dr Ashok Dhawale from Maharashtra. Sources from SKM told RuralVoice that while on the one hand representation was ensured on a regional basis in the formation of the committee, the background of the protesting farmer organizations was considered on the other.

The said source has clarified that the committee is authorized to hold talks with the government on all the demands of the SKM. The most prominent of these demands is the one for legal guarantee of MSP. Besides, other major demands pertain to the cases registered against the farmers during the movement and to the issue of compensation for and rehabilitation of the kins of the farmers who lost their lives during the movement.

The SKM officials say that the committee has also been formed in response to the point raised time and again that there is no small committee of the farmer leaders with which talks may be held to resolve the farmers’ demands. There are 40 farmer organizations under the SKM umbrella. However, earlier too, SKM had formed a nine-member committee that has been taking decisions regarding the movement.

According to sources, the government tried backdoor negotiations even earlier, but these did not succeed. The recent developments, too, are being seen as related to backdoor efforts. Some of the ministers in the government were constantly trying to find a way out for talks. The efforts to hold talks intensified after the Prime Minister declared that the three farm laws would be repealed. The current developments may be seen as a result of this. The government does not want the movement to stretch up to the impending Assembly elections in five states over the next few months. The movement may result in a political loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The government, therefore, is endeavouring to somehow bring the movement to an end. Given this situation, it appears that some way may be found out through talks with the SKM committee formed today.

As far as an invitation from the government for talks is concerned, one of the members of the newly formed committee categorically said, “The government has not extended an invitation for talks as yet. We are waiting (for the invitation).” However, he seemed to be assured about the possibility of a solution through talks between the government and this committee. Speculations are being made that Union Home Minister Amit Shah may participate in talks with the SKM committee. However, clarity would emerge on this only in the next couple of days.

In his address to the nation on the occasion of Gurpurab on November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the three contentious farm laws would be repealed. Besides, he said that a committee would be formed on a host of farmers’ issues, including that of MSP. Subsequently, the Cabinet approved the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, to repeal the three laws. On November 29, both the Houses of the Parliament passed the Bill and, subsequent to the President’s assent to it, the provisions of the three farm laws were annulled.

The repeal of the three farm laws was the most prominent demand of the farmer organizations. But they have not ended the movement yet. They say, “Our second most important demand is the one for a legal guarantee of MSP. We shall not end the movement until this demand is met.” Farmers from several parts of the country have been protesting on the Delhi borders since November 27, 2020, demanding the repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee of MSP. They had carried on the movement in Punjab and other parts of the country for several months before this.