National Conference-2024 on ‘MSP Legal Guarantee Law’ held at Delhi over major demands of MSP, Introduction of Private Member’s Bill
National Conference-2024 on ‘MSP Legal Guarantee Law’ held at Delhi over major demands of MSP, Introduction of Private Member’s Bill
HARISH MONGA
Delhi/Ferozepur, July 22, 2024: Today, Kisan Mazdoor Rashtriya Sammelan 2024, organized by Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) & Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political was held at Delhi at Constitution Club of India, over major demands of enactment of the MSP Guarantee Law based on the C2+ 50% (Swaminathan Committee Recommendation) and introduction of a private member’s bill. Tributes were paid to all those who lost their lives in the farmer’s protests 1.0 and 2.0 Andolan.
Presently, the farmers have been sitting at the Shambhu border since February 13, when the Haryana government blocked the national highway, restricting the farmers from reaching Delhi for holding protests. The Ambala cloth traders have also appealed to the government to open the national highway which has affected their business. Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana court has also ordered that the national highway be cleared within a week, which cannot be blocked permanently. Meanwhile, the farmers are in high spirits and would continue with their protests at the Shambhu border or move to Delhi on the opening of the National Highway to register their protest.
The keynote speakers were – Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Farmers’ leader Bibi Sukhvinder Kaur, BKU Krantikari Women’s Wing, Devinder Sharma, Agricultural Expert, Dr Prakash, ex-Karnataka Agricultural Department, Guramneet Singh Mangat, General Secretary, Progressive Farmers’ Front and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, Sompal Shastry, ex-Agricultural and Water Resources Minister, Gurpreet Singh Sangha, Jaipur, and the 13 farmers who have come from different parts of the country to the convention -PT John, Kerala, Prof Anant Kumar, Pondichery, Paramjit Singh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, R Ananthji, Tamil Nadu, Harjender Singh, Jairamji, Bihar, Manjit Singh Rai, Longowal, Sarvan Singh Pandher, Surjit Singh Phool, Amarjit Singh Mohri, Ranjit Singh Raju, Hamid Malik, Jammu and Kashmir and PR Pandian, Tamil Nadu.
Dr Prakash, ex-Karnataka Agricultural Department said, the MSP is not just for farmers but for the entire population of the country because it gives incentives for farmers to produce ensuring a sufficient amount of food production in the country itself.
Guramneet Singh Mangat, General Secretary, Progressive Farmers’ Front and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha said, all the experts have spoken in detail on issues related to nuances that are not easily graspable for working classes of the country. The farmers are the only class who can fight their own battles as nobody else is going to fight for them.
Sarvan Singh Pandher, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader said, all the opposition and NDA constituent parties are urged to present a private member’s bill in the parliament to enact the MSP guarantee law. The benefits of the MSP Guarantee law will flow down to the other sections of society as well. The movement is going to go even longer. We have partially won the battle of the MSP. The point is that our patience is being tested by the government, the corporates and other imperialistic forces. The movement is going to get rapid from here on.
Devinder Sharma, an Agricultural Expert, said, that in the upcoming budget, out of the total funds of 48 lakh crores, only 3 per cent of the funds would be given to the farmers. But since India’s 50 per cent of the population is rural agrarian, 50% of the budget should be given to this sector. The agricultural share of the budget can be gradually increased from 3 per cent to 10 per cent; from 10 per cent to 20 and eventually increasing it to 50 per cent.
The proceedings of this Conference will be submitted to the government for consideration so that a further course of action is taken to redress the grievances of the farmers in the country.
