As the thousands of protesting farmers affiliated to the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait group) were prevented from entering Delhi in support of their demands, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday said the Centre would consider reducing GST on farm equipment to 5%. The farmers have demanded that farm equipment be exempt.
Among the protesters were sugarcane farmers from Bhora Kalan village in Muzaffarnagar who complained of rising debt, increasing cost of pesticides and other expenses and demanded that the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission be accepted.
“Even when we are given insurance schemes, the companies make sure we don’t get our due. They have ground farmers into powder just like you grind spices,” said Chowdhry Dhan Singh from Bhora Kalan.
Among the protesters is Jasmeet Singh from Punjab, with a noose around his neck. “This is to represent that one farmer dies every three days with the kind of conditions we have today,” he said.
No MSP hike
While the Centre is prepared to cede ground on some of the demands, it is refusing to budge with regard to higher minimum support prices (MSP) and wants further discussion on issues such as loan waivers, Mr. Shekhawat told The Hindu . The C2+FL formula is economically unviable, he said.
Union Ministers have been in touch with BKU leaders, Naresh and Rakesh Tikait, from Monday evening, Mr. Shekhawat said. Around mid-day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh, Mr. Shekhawat and senior government officials met the BKU leadership and thrashed out an agreement on seven demands.
The Centre agreed to seek a legal review petition against the National Green Tribunal’s ban on diesel vehicles more than ten years old in the NCR, and bring on board the four affected State governments as well. “Tractors can’t be counted as vehicles,” said Mr. Shekhawat.
He added that he would chair a committee to resolve implementation problems on crop insurance and farmer credit schemes, and review the possibility of including crop damage by wild animals for insurance.
Farmer representatives would also be included in a NITI Aayog special committee that will focus on linking agriculture with MGNREGA, he said.
The Centre also agreed to ensure that crops were procured at MSP rates within 90 days.
