Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said that he has requested the Centre to direct the Haryana government to ‘maintain peace’ in border areas in view of the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation.
Meanwhile, the third round of talks between the Union ministers and the 14 farmer union leaders concluded after around five hours on Friday. It ended in a stalemate, with no common ground in sight, the next round of the talks will take place on Sunday at 6 pm.
Bhagwant Mann, while addressing the media after the meeting with union ministers, said that the deliberation took place on 13-14 demands put forward by the farmers.
“We have had the meeting in a positive environment on 13-14 demands. The next meeting will take place on Sunday… The Internet in the border areas has been suspended. This is causing problems for students during the examinations… I requested the Centre to direct the Haryana government to maintain peace in border areas,” Mann said.
Mann further said that the problems of the people of Punjab are also a concern.
“The next meeting is on Sunday… There have been agreements on a lot of topics… Law and order and problems of the people of Punjab are also a concern… We should not have a scarcity of fuel or milk or anything that comes from outside…” he added.
Earlier, the Haryana government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced the extension of internet shutdown in districts including Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa tomorrow in view of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by the farmers. This is the third time that internet services have been suspended in the state this month, due to the protests.
On February 13, the state government extended the suspension of these services for two days.
According to the order, the suspension of the mobile internet services, bulk SMS (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and all dongle services, etc. provided on mobile networks except voice calls in the jurisdiction of Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts has been extended till February 17.
On Tuesday, farmers from Punjab faced tear gas shells at two border points as protesters tried to break past barricades set up by the Haryana Police to stop them from heading to the national capital.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation to put pressure on the Centre over their demands, including a law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Arjun Munda said that the third round of talks with the leaders of the protesting farmers was, however, “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.
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, represented the central government at the meeting.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present at the meeting.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal, speaking about the meeting said that the Centre asks for more time for a detailed discussion over the demands.
“We had a detailed discussion with the three Union ministers (Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai). After the discussion, the government said that the demands require a detailed discussion. They have decided Sunday for the next (fourth) round of meeting,” Dallewal said.
Previous talks with the representatives of the farm bodies also had turned out to be unfruitful, which spurred the farmers to come up with ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.
The first meeting between the farmer leaders and the centre took place on February 8, while the second was held on February 12.
Earlier today, protesting farmers from Rajpura in Punjab’s Patiala were sitting on rail tracks and blocking trains at Rajpura Railway Station as part of their protest, which has escalated ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to the protesting farmers, the centre promised them better crop prices, after which they ended the 2021 protest. They are demanding to enact a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission report.
They are also demanding a complete debt waiver and a scheme to provide pensions to farmers and farm labourers.
The farmers have also urged to scrap the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and are demanding to reintroduce the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, ensuring consent from farmers and compensation at 4 times the collector rate.
Further, they are demanding to punish those involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings.
An appeal to provide 200 days of employment per year and a daily wage of Rs 700 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), linking it with farming, has also been made by the farmers. Also, they have demanded compensation to the families of farmers who died during the protests in 2021 and a job for any family member.
In 2020, farmers protested against three laws at Delhi borders, after which they were repealed by the centre in 2021.
These laws were The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.-ANI