A foggy morning in the Capital

Protest will benefit small farmers, can prolong it for years if demands not met, say farmer leaders

GHAZIABAD: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said Monday that he disagreed with the comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha over the issue of minimum support price (MSP).

He also reiterated that all farmers stand together, and that the ongoing agitation will benefit small farmers.

On Monday, PM Modi, besides other matters, spoke on issues related to farmers during his reply in the Upper House to the motion of thanks on the President’s address. The PM said, “MSP is, MSP was, and MSP will be. Affordable ration for the poor will continue. Mandis will be modernised.”

However, Tikait after the PM’S address said that the issue related was being made complicated.

“We never said that MSP will be done away with. We said that a law on this is needed which will benefit farmers. Otherwise, they can be exploited at the hands of traders and corporates. The business in the country will not be done taking into consideration how hungry people are. The price of crops cannot be decided on the basis of tickets of flights whose rates fluctuate several times in a day,” Tikait said.

Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of the BKU, said most schemes and allocation were aimed for people engaged in the agri-business.

“The farmers are never consulted,

even during pre-budget consultations. Our demand is that purchase should be on MSP. We welcome schemes for farmers. We demand that the price is fixed by the government and this should be guaranteed to farmers. We can take this agitation up for years,” said Yudhvir Singh, the general secretary of the BKU.

The last time the government and farm union leaders held talks was January 22.

During the last meeting, the government had offered that they were willing to put on hold the implementation of the three laws for a period of about oneand-a-half years.

However, farmers have stood by their demands.

“Na manch badlenge, na panch badlenge (neither the stage will change nor the people of the committee). The government should talk to farmers and to our

committee,” Tikait said on Monday.

Jagtar Singh Bajwa, member of the UP Gate farmers’ committee and a farmer leader from Uttarakhand, said that there have been no talks with the government since January 22.

“No talks have taken place with the government since then. We are ready for talks whenever they call us. But they have not given us any day or time for talks so far. It seems they think that the farmer is weak,” he added.

“Earlier they had said that it was an agitation by farmers from Punjab.then they termed it as an agitation of Sikhs, then Jats, and now they tell us the difference between small and big farmers. They should increase the income of small farmers who have less than two hectares of land and their loans should also be waived,” Tikait added.

A dense layer of fog engulfed Delhi on Monday morning, as the overall air quality index (AQI) fell to the ‘very poor’ category, down from the ‘poor’ zone a day earlier. Government agencies said the AQI is likely to marginally deteriorate but predicted to remain within the ‘very poor’ category for the next two days. The Capital also woke up to a colder morning, as the minimum temperature settled at 7.6 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department. On Sunday, the minimum temperature settled at 8.3°C. The maximum temperature was at 24.6°C. The meteorological department forecast a partly cloudy sky for Tuesday with shallow to moderate fog in the morning.

SAKIB ALI/HT ARCHIVE BKU leader Rakesh Tikait addresses a gathering at the UP Gate protest site.