A day before the fourth round of talks between farmers and Union ministers, farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Saturday demanded that the Centre should bring an ordinance on giving a legal guarantee to MSP, a key demand of farmers currently camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border.
"If it (Centre) brings out an ordinance, it can bring it overnight, if it wants to. If the government wants a resolution of the farmers' protest, then it should bring an ordinance with immediate effect that it will enact a law on MSP, then discussions can proceed further," Pandher said as quoted by the news agency PTI.
Farmers "Delhi Chalo" march, called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, has entered its fifth day on Saturday. Currently, protesting farmers put a stay at the two border points of Punjab and Haryana as they press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee of a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
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The third round of talks between Union Ministers and farmer leaders was concluded on Thursday night, with no breakthrough. The Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, however, called the discussion positive. "Today, a very positive discussion happened between the government and the farmers' unions. Focusing on the topics highlighted by the farmers' union, we have decided that the next meeting will take place on Sunday at 6 pm... We all will find a solution peacefully...," Munda said as quoted by ANI.
The next round of the talks between Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders will take place on Sunday. The two sides met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but those talks remained inconclusive.
Thousand of farmers are marching toward Delhi putting several demands before the Central government inclduing legal guarantee for MSP. Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding 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 and several others.