Punjab: Farmer groups protesting at Punjab’s border with Haryana will hold their third round of unity talks with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on February 12. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha is an umbrella body of farmer unions that led a year-long agitation against the three central farm laws in 2020-21. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader Raminder Singh Patiala said the meeting is likely to be held in Chandigarh. The meeting comes two days before the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) are scheduled to hold talks with the Centre over their demands. Earlier, two rounds of discussions between farmer groups remained inconclusive as differences emerged among them over the common strategy of their joint agitation against the Centre.
The current protests have been limited to demands including loan waiver and a law ensuring minimum support price (MSP) for crops, but the SKM has been claiming that the MSP is secondary to the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing as it includes provisions of the three now-repealed central farm laws. SKM representatives have not been invited by the Centre for the meeting called to discuss farmers’ issues in Chandigarh on February 14. KMM and SKM (non-political) coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said they have never backed out from talks with the SKM and are looking forward to the meeting. “However, we have not received a formal invitation or letter for the meeting yet. We are hoping for maximum unity to strengthen our protest,” he said.
Asked if the SKM wants to be part of the talks with the Centre, Raminder Singh Patiala said the unity talks on January 12 are more important for them. Pandher was not available for comment. Meanwhile, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s indefinite fast completed 60 days on Friday. A day after Dallewal rejected the Supreme Court’s suggestion to go for a “proper medical check-up” at Chandigarh’s PGI before meeting the Centre’s representatives on February 14, deputy commissioner Priya Yadav and SSP Nanak Singh met him at the protest site for 15 minutes. The SSP later told reporters that the farmer leader’s health had improved since he started taking medical help on January 19.
