Farmers Demand Crop MSP: Central Meeting to Address Concerns

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi will head a central team to meet with farmers' representatives about their demands, including a legal guarantee for crop MSP. The meeting follows a year-long protest. Prominent farmer leaders and Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian will participate in the talks at Chandigarh.

In a move aimed at addressing ongoing agricultural grievances, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi will spearhead a central team meeting with farmers' representatives this Friday. Contrived at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Chandigarh, the agenda focuses on securing a legal guarantee for minimum support prices (MSP) and other pressing demands.

The assembly will consist of a delegation comprising 28 farmer leaders, including pivotal figures like Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who's currently on an indefinite hunger strike. Dallewal, alongside known leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and others from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been active in the year-long protest targeting the unmet agricultural sector requirements.

This convening follows a series of inconclusive discussions between farmers and central ministers throughout February 2024. Besides MSP safeguards, the broader set of demands extends to debt waivers, pensions for farm labor, and addressing past injustices like the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

(With inputs from agencies.)