ON Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the all-party meeting ahead of the Budget Session, news agency PTI reported. In a speech, he stressed on the fact that The Government of India has been continuously trying to resolve issues of protesting farmers through talks
So far, GoI and farm leaders met more than ten times to resolve the issue; however, all the discussions have resulted in more protests and futile negotiations.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting in New Delhi and are nearing the borders. The protests began since the month of September, 2020, when the parliament of India passed three farm laws.
Earlier, the GoI proposed to submit an affidavit in Supreme Court for suspending the three laws and set up a committee following the Supreme Court’s order to Government of India (GoI) whether it would pause the implementation of three controversial farm laws at the core of massive farmer protests near Delhi, saying the situation had gone worse. “Tell us whether you will put the laws on hold or else we will do it. What’s the ego here?”
After failing to garner support from their respective state governments, the farmers have decided to mount pressure on the GoI, due to which they began protesting in Delhi.
As farmers do not accept the three new legislations — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation); The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance; and Farm Services and The Essential Commodities (Amendment), they believe the laws will open agricultural sale and marketing outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis for farmers, remove the barriers to inter-state trade, and provide a framework for electronic trading of agricultural produce.
Farmers believe the laws will gradually end the mandi system and leave farmers at the mercy of corporates while the state government will not be able to collect a market fee, access or levy for trade outside the APMC markets. They also believe that the price assurance legislation may offer protection to farmers against price exploitation, but will not prescribe the mechanism for price fixation.
They are also of the opinion that dismantling the mandi system will bring an end to the assured procurement of their crops at MSP.
Farmers are demanding the government guarantee MSP in writing, or else the free hand given to private corporate houses will lead to their exploitation