Farmers Called Off Their Protest After Haryana Government Agrees To Provide Appropriate Price
Update: 2023-06-14 11:59 IST
Farmers Called Off Their Protest After Haryana Government Agrees To Provide Appropriate Price
After receiving a guarantee of a "appropriate price" for the commodity from the state government on Tuesday night, farmers protesting the MSP for sunflower seeds in Pipli in Haryana's Kurukshetra ended their agitation. Following new discussions with the district government in the evening, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait reported that the farmers had halted their protest and the Pipli national highway roadblock had been lifted.
Shantanu Sharma, the deputy commissioner (DC) for Kurukshetra, stated that farmers had been guaranteed a "appropriate price" for their crop of sunflowers. according to the Haryana government, farmers are always supported. He declared, "The Haryana government has decided to assure the correct price of the crop and we will accomplish this, either by increasing (crop) rate or 'bhavantar' rate.
The DC further stated that the commitment made by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to establish a facility in Shahabad to process 20,000 metric tonnes of sunflower will soon be fulfilled. Tikait told reporters that the local farmers' committee and the government had been in negotiations, and that they had reached an agreement in the evening, according to which the government had agreed to their demand for the MSP and had also agreed to release the farmers who had been recently detained during the Shahabad protest by adhering to the law.
Tikait said that the MSP rate must be provided in every state. The country will need to agitate more for the legislative guarantee of MSP. Here, a start has been made. He claimed that the road had been cleaned and the demonstration had ceased.
Following a mahapanchayat on the subject on Monday afternoon, the farmers in protest had blocked the National Highway-44 near Pipli, which connects Delhi with Chandigarh, as well as several other routes.
Since Monday, the district administration has engaged in numerous rounds of negotiations with the farmers staging the protests, but progress wasn't made until the state government provided a guarantee about the demand in the late afternoon. The farmers lit fireworks and rejoiced in their win shortly after the deal was completed. In the meantime, the BKU (Charuni) had asked for the farmers to hold the "MSP Dilao, Kisan Bachao Mahapanchayat" on Monday at a grain market in Pipli adjacent to NH-44. The farmers then blocked the highway to show their support for their demand.
Due to traffic diversions and congestion, the highway roadblock had inconvenienced commuters by making them travel further distances to get to their destinations.
The state government had been ordered by the farmers to purchase sunflower seeds at an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal. As an interim support for sunflower crops sold below MSP, the state government provided Rs 1,000 per quintal under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana, a price difference payment programme. After a protracted battle, the farmers' demand was finally met on Tuesday when Tikait responded, "The farmers will get the rate fixed by the Centre," in response to a question about whether they had been guaranteed Rs 6,400 MSP for sunflower.