The fourth round of talks between the panel of Union ministers and the protesting farmers took place in Chandigarh on February 18, with farmers asserting that the government should avoid wasting time and find a solution to their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price. MSP) for crops. The central government has proposed to buy entire quantities of masoor, urad, arhar, maize and cotton at minimum support price (MSP) across the country over the next five years to end the deadlock in talks with protesting farmers. The purchases will be made through Nafed and NCCF without any restrictions.
“We have received a proposal from the three central ministers after the last round of talks on purchasing entire quantities of masoor, urad, arhar, cotton and maize across India at MSP for the next five years. We will discuss this now. among our union members and come back with a stand,” said Abhimanyu Kohar, spokesperson of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (apolitical), one of the main groups leading the protests.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal along with Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Arjun Munda and Home Minister Nityanand Rai held the fourth round of talks with the farmer leaders on their demands. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present at the meeting. Goyal said an ‘innovative’ and ‘out-of-the-box’ idea emerged during the discussions and farmer leaders would decide on the government’s proposal on Monday morning.