The Union government and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of farmer unions, on Thursday, reached a deal on a raft of demands that had sparked year-long protests by farmers in a major political challenge to the Modi regime.
The SKM accepted proposals from the Centre, contained in a letter signed by Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal, towards resolving key agrarian issues raised by it. This paved the way for SKM to call off one of the largest demonstrations by farmers the country has seen in decades.
The SKM will meet next on 15 January, its leaders said. Protestors would take out victory processions from their camps on Delhi’s borders on 11 December on the way back to their villages, it was announced.
The compromise between the Centre and protesting farm unions came after two days of back-channel negotiations that saw proposals sent back and forth and 11 rounds of negotiations that hit a deadlock on 22 January.
Tens of thousands of farmers opposed three farm reform laws enacted by the Modi government in September 2020, squatting on highways across states for 14 months. Thousands had also set up virtual protest camps at five sites along Delhi’s borders, choking traffic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 19 November that his government would abandon the controversial laws, and Parliament repealed them on 29 November. The scrapping of the laws created an opportunity for farmers to re-engage with the government.
On 7 December, the Centre sent draft proposals to resolve the stand-off, to which the farm body proposed amendments.
The SKM signed off on a final letter from the Centre on Thursday that contained key steps forward. “Today is a victory day for farmers, who launched the biggest movement in the country after the freedom movement. Victory to those who feed the nation,” said Daljit Randhawa, a wheat-grower from Punjab’s Sangrur, who has been camping at a protest site on the outskirts of the national capital for months.
The proposals contained in the letter from the agriculture secretary were unanimously accepted by the five-member team of farm leaders authorized to take decisions on behalf of the SKM.
In the letter, the Centre said it would set up a panel mandated to “ensure how all farmers can get minimum support prices (MSP)”. It also assured that the current levels of federal procurement of farm produce at assured prices would not be pared.
“This allayed a major fear of farmers that the government could reduce or stop buying farm produce at MSP,” said Yogendra Yadav, leader of Swaraj India and a member of the SKM’s coordination committee.
Farmers have demanded a law to guarantee minimum prices for 22-odd commodities. Distress selling of farm produce and price volatility in non-cereals have been a major gripe among cultivators.
The Union government’s letter also stated that the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana agreed to withdraw all cases registered against farmers and their supporters during the course of their agitation with immediate effect, a major demand of the SKM.
Cases against farmers registered by central law-enforcement agencies and in Union Territories as well as by Delhi Police would also be withdrawn immediately, the Centre stated.
