Another farmers’ protest? This appears to be in the offing as the Samyukt Kisan Morcha is holding a meeting today to review the situation and decide on a future course of action.
The closed-door meeting will be held at the Gandhi Peace Foundation at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg from 10 am.
The SKM – a grouping of several farm bodies that had led the lengthy agitation – will review the progress made so far by the Centre to uphold the promises made to farmers. The group had suspended the stir in December last year after the government revoked the contentious laws and agreed to consider its six other demands, including withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the agitation, a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and compensation for kin of farmers who died during the protest.
While today’s meeting (which will see participation from the leaders of all farmers’ unions that are constituents of the SKM) is intended to review the situation, the SKM has not ruled out the possibility of resuming their stir. Earlier this year, the group had marked January 31 as a ‘Day of Betrayal’ in protest against the Centre. They contended that the government was yet to fulfil any of the promises on whose basis the protests had been suspended.
According to reports quoting farm leaders, a “roadmap will be decided to pressure the central government to ensure a legal guarantee on minimum support price and the fulfilment of other demands”. The SKM will also seek further clarity on the issue of MSP, the Lakhimpur Kheri case that saw eight people including four farmers killed and discuss a scheme for building a memorial for the farmers who died during the agitation.
The group is also likely to discuss internal matters as rules and regulations, the current status of funds and a decision on farmers’ unions that contested the Punjab Assembly polls will also be discussed during the meeting.
