Farmers’ Leaders huddle to strategise for next parley with govt
A day after the second round of talks with the Centre remained inconclusive, 30 farmers leaders have huddled together to discuss the next course of action ahead of the next meeting with the government on December 5.
The protesting farmers who are camping at four key gateways to the national capital – Singhu, Noida Ghazipur and Tikri – have called for a nationwide protest on Saturday (December 5), which will mark the 10th day of their agitation.
Major routes to Delhi including the Delhi-Meerut Expressway have been blocked by farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand while another connecting Delhi to Noida has been partially closed.
During Friday’s meeting with the government, farmers’ representatives stuck to their demands and made a 39-point presentation to present their issues with the new farm laws.
The farmers refused food provided by the government at the meeting and said they have brought their own ‘langar’.
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Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, assured them to solve their problems through amicable talks, while urging them to withdraw their protests to save residents of Delhi from further inconvenience.
However, no breakthrough was achieved during the meeting, with several leaders threatening to boycott further talks with the government.
“The government did propose amendments to the laws but farmers unions still insisted on taking these laws back,” NDTV quoted Kavitha Kuruganti, leader of All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee as saying.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said half of the protesting farmers will be appeased only if the government make the Minimum Support Price (MSP) a right by law.
MSP is a major bone of contention for the farmers in the new laws, as they believe not guaranteeing it in the legislations would put them at the mercy of big corporates.
3 amendments that Centre may be mulling
Tomar’s statements given to the media on Thursday, however, indicated that the government may be considering amending a few provisions in the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Production and Facilitation) Act.
While Section 6 of the law provides exemption from ‘market cess’ – levied by the state government – on transactions made outside the premises of APMC mandis, farmers allege the provision doesn’t give a level-playing field to mandis vis a vis private markets under the new act.
They say that the absence of a tax structure in the alternative markets may portray them as lucrative places, thereby completely diverting the trade from the traditional mandis to the former.
Referring to the issue after Thursday’s meeting with the farmers, Tomar said the government would work out ways to provide a level-playing field to the traditional mandis and the private markets.
A report in the Indian Express said, the government is working on a proposal to exempt the private trading areas and collection centres from the market cess, but not the rural development fee, which is imposed by the state government.
The Centre may also amend Section 15 of the Act which names the local sub-divisional magistrates and district collectors as the final authorities in case of any dispute arising out of transactions in the new markets.
Pointing that farmers have raised objections to the law not giving them the right to approach a civil court, Tomar said the government will consider their demands.
Another amendment may be effected to Section 4 of the Act under which a buyer or seller can operate in the private market only with a PAN card or any other document “notified by the government”. Farmer say the requirement is too weak as it gives space to any buyer with a PAN can to dupe a farmer of his money unlike in APMC mandis where it is compulsory for buyers to have a license, which are liable to cancellation if any default is reported against them.
