New Delhi The United Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum of agricultural unions, on Wednesday indicated that it has reached an agreement with the central government on a set of revised draft proposals from the Center to address the demands of farmers.
The SKM is likely to ask thousands of its farmer workers across states on Thursday to call off their 14-month-long agitation against the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the end of the agitation still depended on an officially signed letter from the central government based on the agreed draft resolutions, SKM leaders said.
The clear agreement between the Center and the protesting farm unions was reached after two days of back-channel talks, in which proposals were sent back and forth between the central government and the SKM’s five-member negotiating team.
A crucial meeting of the SKM team began with a two-minute silence at the Singhu protest site on the outskirts of the capital to condole the death of Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat and 11 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. .
Five members, authorized by the SKM to take decisions on behalf of all agriculture unions, unanimously accepted the Centre’s revised draft after a two-hour meeting.
The SKM had on December 4 urged its five senior-most members to hold talks with the Centre. They are Ashok Dhawale, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Shiv Kumar Kakkaji and Yudhveer Singh.
On Tuesday, the panel had raised various points of contention over the draft proposals sent by the Centre, sending them back to the home ministry for revision. The Center reworked the proposals, paving the way for a settlement.
“The government has taken two steps forward. We agree to all the revised proposals. The government should now convert these proposals into an official letter, which we are ready to sign.”
Charuni said that till a formal letter is received from the Centre, the farmers’ team will not disclose the specifics of the proposals agreed by it. The SKM will meet again in the afternoon on Thursday. “The letter from the government should reach us by tomorrow afternoon. Only then will we decide to call off the agitation.”
On 19 November, the central government acceded to a major demand from farmers, when Modi announced that his government would drop the three agrarian-reform laws that had sparked a year-long protest. On 29 November, Parliament repealed laws that farmers said were against their interests.
A SKM leader from Haryana, requesting anonymity, said the revised draft proposal, which was agreed upon by the SKM team, provides for a committee “mandatory to ensure MSP to all farmers”, as he were not authorized to speak.
Another farmer leader said that the Center has also given a written assurance that it will not reduce the existing level of procurement of agricultural produce at assured prices.
The resolution that struck a deal pertains to the withdrawal of all police cases registered against farmers during the protests.
In its earlier resolution, the government had said it would ensure that cases against farmers would be withdrawn once they called off their protests. The team of farmer leaders objected to this condition. “In its revised resolution, the government has said that it will ensure that the cases are withdrawn with immediate effect,” the farmer leader was quoted as saying for the first time.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint.
download
Our App Now!!
,