Protesting farmer unions not to hold talks with SC-formed panel

Strap: Say high-powered committee lacks authority to resolve their demands, including legal guarantee for MSP
Patiala
Farmer unions protesting on the Punjab-Haryana border for the past over seven months have decided not to engage in talks with the Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee.
The protesting farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their “Delhi chalo” march was stopped by the security forces.
The farmers are agitating over various demands, including legal guarantee of MSP for their produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s formula, full debt waiver for farmers, pension for farmers and labourers and withdrawal of cases against farmers during the 2020-21 protest.
Farm unions, represented by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), have reached a unanimous decision to decline the committee’s invitation, senior farmer leaders aware of the matter said. The protesting unions got the SC-appointed committee’s invite on September 20.
“It was a unanimous decision by over a dozen unions associated with the SKM (Non-Political) that we will not enter into a dialogue with the committee. The committee lacks authority and cannot resolve our issues,” said a farmer leader involved in the decision-making process.
On September 2, the apex court constituted a high-powered committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana high court judge justice Nawab Singh to amicably resolve the grievances of protesting farmers. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the committee to reach out to the agitating farmers to immediately remove their tractors and trolleys from the Shambhu border to provide relief to commuters.
The protesting unions believe that the committee lacks the political power and authority to address their core demands, particularly the legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on all 23 crops. Farmers see no merit in holding talks with the committee, another farmer leader said.
The KMM and SKM (Non-Political), the two umbrella farmer unions spearheading the “Delhi chalo” stir, are planning to hold a press conference to justify their decision of not engaging in talks with the panel. “We have scheduled a press conference this week to provide a detailed explanation of our decision,” said a senior KMM leader not wishing to be named.
Though KMM convener Sarwan Singh Pandher refrained from commenting directly on the decision of not holding talks, he said the protests were centred around securing a legal guarantee for MSP. He also pointed out that the committee lacked political authority to resolve their demands. “We believe that talks with the committee would be futile. If the government itself wishes to engage in dialogue, we will consider it,” Pandher told HT.