Farmers' protest: Accept revised demand of Govt, will meet again tomorrow, says BKU leader | Updates

Samyukt Kisan Morcha will re-convene tomorrow at Singhu border at 12 noon. "Samyukta Kisan Morcha confirms to have received a revised draft proposal from the Government of India and that a consensus has been arrived at within SKM, accepting the proposal. Now, a formal communication signed on the Government's letterhead is awaited. SKM will meet again tomorrow at twelve noon, at Singhu Border, to take a formal decision thereafter to lift the morchas," a statement issued by SKM stated.

Several farmers leaders including Yogendra Yadav and Joginder Singh Ugraha have arrived for the SKM meeting, which will begin after farm leaders of the 5-member committee arrive.

The meeting of the 5-member committee of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) begins.

We appreciate that the govt is ready for talks & is giving something in writing. But the proposal had a few flaws, so last night, we sent it back with some amendments & are awaiting their response. The formation of an MSP-focused committee is needed, including members from the farmers' union. The govt also said that the cases registered against us will be taken back after we finish the movement, which is wrong. We don't like sitting here in the cold. The compensation has been approved theoretically, we need something concrete like the Punjab model. They also promised to take back the Electricity bill, but now they want to discuss it with the stakeholders & then put it up in the Parliament. It's contradictory: Ashok Dhawale, member of SKM's 5-member committee

A five-member committee of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is likely to meet Union ministers Amit Shah and Narendra Singh Tomar separately on Wednesday to discuss their pending farm related issues, a farmer leader said. The likely discussions with the two ministers will take place hours before the scheduled meeting at 2 pm of the SKM, which is spearheading the movement against three farm laws.

Another farmer leader and SKM member said the agitation is likely to be called off on Wednesday as there have been some positive responses from the government side on the farmers' demands, according to a PTI report. "However, a final decision will be announced after another meeting of SKM on Wednesday," he said. On November 29, a bill was passed in Parliament to repeal the three contentious farm laws, one of the main demands of the protesting farmers. But the stalemate continues with the protesters demanding that the government fulfil their other demands too.

Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu said protesting farmer unions have reached a consensus on the future course of the agitation as nearly all their demands have been met, but a formal announcement of the decision will be made on Wednesday. "Nearly all demands raised by us have been met. Letter (from the government with assurances on farmers' demands) has been received. A consensus has been reached, the final decision will be announced tomorrow," Sandhu told reporters after the SKM meeting.

The SKM had formed a five-member panel on Saturday to hold talks with the government on the pending demands of the protesting farmers, including a legal guarantee on MSP for crops, compensation to the kin of the farmers who died during the agitation against three agriculture laws and the withdrawal of cases against the protesters. The five-member panel of the SKM has farmer leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Ashok Dhawle, Shiv Kumar Kakka, Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Yudhvir Singh.

A lengthy meeting of farmer leaders from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha was held Tuesday evening at Singhu on the Delhi border. The meet - to consider the Centre's offer - concluded without an agreement on how to proceed, and will resume at 2 pm tomorrow.

The three Bills that stand repealed now are: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill; and 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020.

Last month Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the farm laws would be scrapped. On November 29, a bill to that effect was passed in Parliament.

According to farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, the government’s proposal said that it will form a committee to look into the demand for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops and the panel will include farmer organisations outside the SKM, government officials and representatives of states. "We had objections to it … we do not want other committees who have been against our demands since the start to be part of the panel on MSP. We have demanded the government give a clarification in this regard," Rajewal said.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has convened an emergency meeting today to discuss the future course of action. Farmer leaders, who are members of the Morcha, will again meet at 2 PM. It is likely that the Morcha could announce to end the stir today.