Farmers' stir on Delhi borders to be 'postponed' for now
Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Dec, 2021 12:53 PM
New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the farmers protesting along the borders of the national capital over agricultural issues, have agreed to the draft proposal prepared by the Central government, and is expected make a "major announcement" on Thursday.
Following its meeting on Wednesday, the farmers' body said that their stir has not ended but it has been postponed for now, adding they would continue pressing the government over the Minimum Support Price (MSP) issue.
A meeting is likely to be held on Thursday noon to decide the further strategy of the movement.
Besides, the farmers have been continuously seeking the resignation of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni over the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident in October this year in which 5 farmers were among the dead.
In the draft resolution sent for the second time by the government, it was said that the government has agreed to cancel the FIRs against farmers in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand with immediate effect. At the same time, there will be representatives of the SKM on the committee to be formed on MSP.
Also, the government will present the Electricity Bill in the Parliament only after discussing the matter with the representatives of the SKM. Besides, the government has also given consent to the farmers on compensation.
After the SKM meeting, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said: "Agreement was reached upon on the draft proposal sent by the government. After receiving a formal letter in this regard from the government, a meeting of farmer leaders will be held tomorrow (Thursday) in a decision on the suspension of the agitation is likely to be taken."
The SKM continued camping along the borders of Delhi even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19 -- along with an apology, announced the withdrawal of the three agriculture laws against which the farmers have been on streets since November 2020.
The SKM has put forward some of their other demands including the MSP issue.
The farmers have also demanded compensation to the families of the farmers who lost their lives during the almost year-long agitation. They also demanded cancellation of the Electricity Bill, while seeking no action against them on stubble burning.
After the meeting on Wednesday, the farmers also were seen celebrating by distributing sweets among themselves.
The BJP, which is likely to contest the Punjab assembly polls on its own for the first time after its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) walked away, will be banking on leaders from the opposition parties and prominent personalities to make its electoral presence felt in the state. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP had won only three out of the 23 seats it contested.
Slamming Amarinder Singh for his "myopic" mindset towards the poor, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Friday that the former CM targeted him because he had raised issues of the common man.
Accepting a farm activist's revocation application to revoke the varietal registration of Pepsico India Holding on potato variety FL-2027, The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority on Friday revoked the registration, the multinational had. Even at the global level, this is the first time that the multinational had to face such a defeat.
Days after the Parliament repealed the three contentious farm laws, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will be holding a crucial meeting on Saturday to discuss whether to end the over-an-year- old agitation, among other issues. The meeting will be held at the Singhu Border camp site, which acted as the headquarters for the SKM.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced to provide high quality free education to the children of Punjab in government schools, if his party forms the government.
Reiterating his government's commitment to implement each and every decision in the right earnest, Channi said that notwithstanding the time constraint, his government would leave no stone unturned to resolve the remaining issues.
