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The protesting farmers and the Union government led by Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a fresh round of talks on Saturday evening, in a bid to end a year-long deadlock over a range of demands, including a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices (MSPs).
The meeting between Mr Chouhan and a 28-member farmers' delegation comprising Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher was held at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration in Chandigarh.
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi, and Punjab Cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Lal Chand Kataruchak were also present at the meeting that lasted for over two hours.
The details of the discussion were not immediately known. Another round of meeting is scheduled to be held on March 19.
"We had a meeting in a conducive environment. The Narendra Modi-led government is committed to the welfare of the farmers. We listened to Mr Dallewal and Mr Pandher's views. We had a good discussion. It will be continued and the next meeting will be held on March 19," Mr Chouhan told reporters.
The 3rd Farmers' Meeting will be held on March 19 at 5 PM at the #MGSIPA, Sec 26, #Chandigarh. The Central Govt continues to prioritize the welfare of farmers. Union ministers urge Dallewal Ji to call off the fast & facilitate the reopening of border roads.#FarmersMeeting pic.twitter.com/GOVnzHgWNJ
— PIB in Chandigarh (@PIBChandigarh) February 22, 2025
Earlier in the day, Mr Chouhan said the Centre is working out measures to ensure that farmers do not have to sell their produce, especially fruits and vegetables, at throwaway prices.
Mr Cheema said the meeting saw a detailed discussion on MSPs. "The meeting went very well. We will meet again next month," he said.
In the last meeting held on February 14, Mr Joshi said Mr Chouhan will lead the central team for the meeting with the protesting farmers on Saturday.
The farmers, under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands.
Dallewal (70) has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands.
Besides a legal guarantee on MSP, the cultivators are seeking a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariffs, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.