Five-Year Plan: Farmers Rejected the Proposal, Protest to Continue

Farmers rejected the proposal of a five-year plan and announced that they will continue their protest from 21st february, Wednesday, 11 am. The fourth round of the meeting between the farmers and the union government was set yesterday, February 19, where the government proposed to buy five crops at minimum support price for the five years. 

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, convener of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), which  led along with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh committee (KMSC), told the press that the proposal wasn’t sufficiently beneficial to the farmers. “Hence we have decided to reject it and resume our march from Wednesday onwards,” he added.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of KMSC announced that he wants the law to guarantee the MSP for all 23 crops for which government announces MSP every year.

Dallewal stressed on how the government is white washing their demands. “It was essentially a plan for contract farming. It was only good for people who would move from wheat or paddy to crops like cotton, maize, or pulses. The farming model of contract farming has already proven to be ineffective and is unable to provide farmers with a stable income. Furthermore, Dallewal stated that it was not justified to abandon those crops that were not included in the government proposal, which was for five of the 23 crops on which MSP is declared,” Dallewal said. 

According to Dallewal, estimations from experts in agriculture and economy indicate that the government’s total outlay would not exceed Rs 1.75 lakh crore if it were to guarantee MSP for all 23 crops. However, he pointed out that the Union government spends almost Rs 1.5 lakh crore on the import of edible oils alone.

He went on to say that the government had not demonstrated any commitment to their other demands, which included the cancellation of loans, the halting of the privatisation of electricity, a comprehensive public sector crop insurance scheme, a pension of Rs 10,000 per month for farmers over 60, the dismissal and prosecution of junior Union minister Ajay Mishra “Teni” for the massacre of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, among other things. 

Dallewal also mentioned the lie that the Haryana DGP in his latest statement claimed about not using pellet guns on the farmers. He said that pellet guns have been used. 

What did SKM say?

According to the SKM, Indian farmers will not accept anything less than the aforementioned MSP model for any crop with assured procurement.

In a statement released here, the original SKM body—which is not affiliated with its splinter group SKM (Non-Political)—stated that the Center’s proposal to procure five crops—Maize, Cotton, Arhar/Tur, Massur, and Urad—for five years was essentially an attempt to dilute and divert the demand of MSP at the “cost + 50% profit” model for all crops with guaranteed procurement. This was originally recommended by the National Farmers Commission, which was chaired by M.S. Swaminathan in 2006—and was a pledge made in the BJP manifesto prior to the 2014 general election.

The SKM declared that nothing below the abovementioned MSP model for all crops with guaranteed procurement is acceptable to the farmers of India.“If the Modi government is unable to implement the promise made by BJP, then let the Prime Minister be honest to tell that to the people,” it said.

In addition, other farmers’ unions who are not part of negotiations with the Union have as well rejected the proposal.

Throwback to the Protest

In march towards Delhi on February 13, the Punjab and Haryana borders at Shambhu and Khanaur tried to stop the protesting farmers from entering Delhi and  dozens were injured. 

Since then farmers have been in constant conversation with the center, the fourth one held yesterday.

Security has been deployed hugely at the borders to maintain peace with more than 10,000 farmers stationed with their grievances. The farmer leaders appealed to the Haryana government to let them camp inside Delhi during the press conference yesterday so they can priests for their legitimate rights.