Meeting Shah half way? Farmers accede to 5-member panel

By Ajay Jha | NT with agency inputs

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s overnight call to farmers’ leaders set the ball in motion for talks in the coming week after farmers announced a five member panel that would meet with the government and resolve outstanding issues.

“Amit Shah called last night. He said the laws have been rolled back and the government is serious about finding a solution to the ongoing stir. The Home Minister wanted a committee to communicate with the government, so we finally have made that committee now,” Yudhvir Singh, a leader of one of the farmers’ unions said to the media.

The farmers who have marked the success of their year-long campaign to repeal the three new agricultural laws, also announced at a meeting organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) - the umbrella body of farmers’ organisations – to discuss the future of the agitation, that they would continue their protest at the Singhu border, near Delhi where they have gathered in huge numbers.

One of the issues was how long the agitation should continue and when they should vacate the protest sites. It was decided that for now, the farmers will continue the protest over their demands like widening the Minimum Support Price or MSP programme that guarantees prices for certain crops and dropping cases filed against protesters over the last year. “The result of the meeting between the government and the committee will be discussed on December 7, and if a compromise is found, then there is a possibility of farmers going back from borders,” he said.

Farmer leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Ashok Dhawle, Shiv Kumar Kakka, Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Yudhvir Singh were named in the five-member panel.