CHANDIGARH, March 18 — Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (agriculture), Prahlad Joshi (food and public distribution), and Piyush Goyal (industries and commerce) resumed talks with 28 farmer unions in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
The meeting, held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26, aims to address the farmers’ long-standing demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) on crops.
The discussions mark the latest attempt to break the deadlock, following the last meeting on February 22, which also took place in Chandigarh. During that round, the Centre asked farmers to provide data supporting their MSP claims for review by experts.
Farmers maintain that a legal guarantee for MSP would require an estimated ₹25,000-30,000 crore annually.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said the unions expect the Centre to resolve key issues this time. “We want concrete assurances, not more delays,” he said.
The farmers, primarily led by the Samyukt Kisan Union (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February last year, after being blocked from marching to Delhi.
Along with a legal guarantee for MSP, their demands include a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm laborers, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases, and justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh.
They are also seeking compensation for the families of farmers who died during the 2020-21 agitation and the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
Farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast since November last year, pressing the Centre to accept their demands.
