Centre should hold talks with farmers at earliest, not on Feb 14: Punjab minister Khuddian

Chandigarh: If the Centre's intentions are right, it should hold a meeting with the protesting farmers at the earliest rather than on February 14 which has been fixed now, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said on Sunday.

His statement came a day after the Centre invited the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) for talks on February 14 at Chandigarh.

"Dallewal's (farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who has been on a fast-unto-death since November 26) health is worrisome. The ministry should hold the meeting with protesting farmers at the earliest," Khuddian told PTI on Sunday. "If their (Centre's) intentions are right then they should hold talks within a day or two." On Saturday, a high-level central delegation led by Ministry of Agriculture Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan met farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal and representatives of SKM (Non-Political) and KMM at the Khanauri border point, and invited them for resumption of talks on February 14.

Following the announcement of the proposed meeting, Dallewal agreed to take medical aid. The 70-year-old has been refusing any aid since he sat on a fast-unto-death on November 26. After the meeting, the protesting farmers released pictures showing Dallewal taking medicines through intravenous drip.

Farmer leaders have, however, said he will not end his indefinite fast until a minimum support price for crops is legally guaranteed.

On January 4, Khuddian had sought Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's intervention in the matter, urging the Centre should hold a dialogue with the protesting farmers at the earliest to break the impasse.

Farmer leaders said on Saturday that officials told them that February 14 was fixed for the meeting as assembly elections are due in Delhi and the model code of conduct was in force till February 9, that bars the government from making any announcement.

The Central government delegation on Saturday handed over the letter for the resumption of talks to Dallewal and SKM (Non-Political) and KMM.

The meeting will take place on February 14 at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration Punjab (MGSIPA) at Sector-26 in Chandigarh. It will be attended by central and Punjab ministers.

"This is in continuation of the previous meeting with the leaders of SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) which was held on February 15, 2024 at Chandigarh," Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan said in the letter.

Four rounds of meetings have taken place between the Central ministers and protesting farmers on February 8, 12, 15 and 18 last year, but talks had remained inconclusive.

A panel of three union ministers then -- Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai -- had held talks with representatives of farmers on February 18 last year. They had rejected the Centre's proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton crops at MSP by government agencies for five years.

Dallewal, who is the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), has been on the indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 last year in support of their various demands.

The farmers had said Dallewal had not eaten anything since November 26 last year and was just surviving on water.

Farmer leaders on Thursday had said that Dallewal has lost about 20 kg weight during his fast-unto-death. They also said that his water intake had reduced and he was vomiting.

Dallewal's frail health had even drawn the attention of the Supreme Court, which had put the onus on Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on his hospitalisation.

Farmers, under the banner of the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

Besides a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, the farmers are demanding a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.