The government at present neither plans to hold dialogues with the protesting farmers nor the pointers from Uma Munda, the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, assure a solution will be found shortly.
For the time being, the government is not going to resume talks with the protesters. Still, the Minister of the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Sector, Arjun Mund, has shared that a solution will be found soon.
Munda was a member of a team of ministers like this and stated this on Wednesday. Last week, the fourth round of talks between the two sides in Chandigarh failed to reach a solution, dissatisfying the farmers who renewed their ‘Delhi chalo’ protest.
However, this didn’t imply negotiations getting back on the table soon, but Munda did express the government’s intent to handle the farmers’ problems. Besides, agriculture is gearing up for the monsoon to meet the expected problems of the farmers, which he highlighted in the annual general meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
At the same time, the farmers’ march was ongoing until February 29, and they remained along the border between Punjab and Haryana. Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, a 200-farm organization representative, have declared as of February 28 that they will protest until one decision on their next course of action is made on February 29.
Farmers have proposed introducing the law to protect the minimum support prices and implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, including pensions for farmers and specialist workers, farm debt blurring out, and a higher market rate for imported agricultural produce.
Although the government has assured farmers of welfare, everything has not become calm, and discontent among protesting farmers will not go away. The farmer leaders did not accept a proposal for the 5-year contract of purchase of cotton, pulses, and maize, at least the concerned support prices, demanding a legal guarantee of the support price for 23 crops.
The farm workers are protesting this year and in the past year for not making much income and being reported by the government to cut the exports of basic commodities. This was also affected by the bad weather.
As per a questionnaire by the National Statistical Authority, the monthly earnings of farm families are approximately only 10,218 rupees, most of which come from non-farm sources. Farmers’ cries for economic support portray the problems faced by the farmers in their quest to continue existing and repay growing debts.
The target for 2022, the 75th year of India’s independence, was proposed through government policies to increase farmers’ income. Nevertheless, the actual record of the performance of cultural diversity is not disclosed. The further this standoff takes place between government officials and farmers, the greater the hope that a realistic agreement can be achieved.
