Centre Proposes 5-Year Plan to Buy Pulses, Maize At MSP From Farmers: Piyush Goyal

A panel of Union Ministers met with the protesting farmers’ leaders for the fourth round of talks in Chandigarh on Sunday.

Leaving from the late-night meeting, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that a panel of three Union Ministers — Goyal along with Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai — proposed a five-year plan of buying pulses, maize and cotton crop at minimum support prices from the farmers.

The farmer leaders, on the other hand, said they will discuss the government’s proposal in their forums over the next two days and thereafter, decide the future course of action.

The meeting was held amid the protest by farmers, who were camping at the Punjab-Haryana border, demanding legal MSP guarantee among other things. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also sat in on the meeting.

Following the four-hour long meeting, Goyal said that the “innovative” and “out-of-the-box” idea came up during the discussions, adding that the farm leaders will decide on the proposal by Monday morning.

“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” said Goyal.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry said that there will be no limit on the quantity (purchased), adding that a portal will be developed for the same.

Goyal said the proposal will save Punjab’s farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the already stressed land from getting barren.

The Union Minister said that the farmers pointed out that they want to diversify into maize crops, however they wish to avoid incurring losses when prices drop below the MSP.

Goyal referred to steps taken by the Narendra Modi-led government in the farm sector and said that from 2014 to 2024, the Centre acquired crops worth Rs 18 lakh crore at MSP while between 2004 and 2014, crops worth only Rs 5.50 lakh crore were procured at the assured price.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry said that if the farmer leaders take a decision on the government’s proposal by Monday, then they will proceed to hold discussions on the same lines as he urged the farmers to call off their protest.

However, he underlined that the other demands of the farmers were “deep and policy-driven” and it was not possible to find a resolution without an in-depth discussion.

“Elections are coming and a new government will be formed… discussions on such issues will continue,” Goyal added.

WHAT FARMERS SAID

Discussions on issues like a law on MSP, the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations and loan waivers were held during the meeting, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said.

“We will discuss in our forums on February 19-20 and take the opinion of experts regarding it and accordingly take a decision,” another farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said.

A discussion on loan waivers and other demands is pending and we hope that these will be resolved in the next two days, Pandher said. He said that the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march is currently on hold, adding that it will resume at 11 am on February 21 if all the issues are not resolved.

PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER’S STAND

Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister batted for a legal MSP for crops to protect the interests of the farmers. Mann said, during the discussion, he brought up the issue of the import of pulses from Mozambique and Columbia.

The import is more than USD 2 billion, Mann said, adding that if MSP is given for this crop then Punjab can lead the nation in pulses production. It will be a second green revolution, he said.

The Punjab CM also said the farmers of the state can adopt cotton and maize only if they get a guaranteed MSP for these crops. Mann stressed that the assured marketing of these crops can motivate the farmers to further diversify into crops.

Mann took part in the meeting as an advocate of the farmers and said that the final decision has to be taken by the stakeholders. Peace, and law and order must be maintained by all means during the protest, he added.

Last week, farmers from Punjab began their march to the national capital. However, they were stopped by security personnel at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana as they continued to press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP on crops.

The farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Additionally, their demands include reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

(With PTI inputs)