Farmers reject Centre's proposal on MSP, to resume Delhi march on February 21

Farmers have rejected the Centre's new plan for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, saying it was not in their interest. Following the rejection of the government's proposal, the protesting farmers said they will resume their 'Delhi Chalo' march on February 21.

Farmer leaders stated that the proposal did not have clarity and they want MSP on all 23 crops and not just pulses, maize, and cotton crops.

The central government and the farmers held a fourth round of talks on Sunday where the Centre presented a five-year plan involving the purchase of pulses, maize, and cotton crops by government agencies at MSP. 

After the talks, farmer leaders had announced that the march to Delhi will be on hold for two days as they study the proposal.

On Monday, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said the central government imports palm oil at the cost of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. If this amount is earmarked for oilseeds cultivated by the farmers, it would benefit them, he added. He said the government's proposal will only benefit farmers who rotate from rice grains to pulses between the crop cycles. The farmer leader added that there are no meetings with the government planned at the moment but they are always ready for talks.

Dallewal made an appeal to the government to either meet the demands raised by the farmers or allow them to protest peacefully in Delhi. He also urged all protesting farmers not to indulge in violence.

The leaders also said 400 farmers were injured in police action against them as they tried to cross the Punjab-Haryana border. Dallewal added that the Haryana DGP's claim that pellet guns were not used is false.

He said the Supreme Court should take suo moto action over the injuries inflicted on the farmers.

The farmers also slammed the Punjab government for imposing an internet ban till February 20 midnight and asked whether it was done on the orders of the central government. They demanded a clarification on why the Punjab government issued written orders to broadband service providers to impose a ban.