Agitating farmers have shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to start talks with them on six other issues, including legal cover for MSP and withdrawal of cases filed against them.
“If you also wish the same then the government should start talks with SKM on these six issues without any delay. Till then, the SKM will continue the agitation as per our pre-decided programs,” the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation against the three farm laws, said in an open letter to the Prime Minister.
The SKM said the Prime Minister had preferred the path of “unilateral announcement” over bilateral talks with them and reminded him of their three other demands such as C2+FL formula for ascertaining the minimum support price for all farm produce, shelving of the amendments to the Electricity Act and removal of the penal provisions in the law to ensure air quality in national capital region.
The SKM said it was also “mandatory” to settle issues such as – withdrawal of cases filed against farmers registered during the agitation, sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni from the council of ministers and allocation of land at Singhu border for a memorial to farmers who died during the year-long protests.
“We want to assure you that we are not interested in sitting on roads. We wish that the pending issues are settled at the earliest so that we can go back to our homes, families and farms,” the letter said.
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Earlier, at a meeting of the SKM, the farmers decided to take a call on the future course of their year-long agitation on Nov 27 and decided to go ahead with their pre-decided protest schedule.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday is expected to formally approve the Bills to repeal the three farm laws, setting in motion the process for their introduction in Parliament next week and bringing a closure to the stand-off with farmers.
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