India / Center asks for 5 names from Samyukt Kisan Morcha to form committee on MSP

New Delhi: As many as 32 farmers' outfits from Punjab held a meeting at the Sonepat-Kundli border on Monday to discuss names to be proposed for the central Committee on MSP (Minimum Support Price).

Earlier in the day, the central government asked the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to submit five names of farmer leaders who could be inducted into the committee. This was part of back-channel talks between the Centre and the farmers' union spearheading the ongoing agitation, said sources.

The back-channel talks were initiated after PM Narendra Modi's November 19 announcement to repeal the three farm laws. Both houses of Parliament on Monday passed a Bill to repeal the contentious legislation.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar declared soon after that the Centre had decided to form a committee to make the MSP system more transparent and effective.

Now, sources tell India Today that the Samyukt Kisan Morcha is likely to send a list of names of candidates for the committee to the central government sometime in the next two days. Farmer leaders from Punjab are pushing for two names for the committee from the state, added sources.

The farmers' union is set to meet on December 1 and December 4 to deliberate on a future course of action.

Meanwhile, farmer leaders from Haryana will sit down with CM Manohar Lal on Wednesday. One of the key issues to be discussed during this meeting will be the withdrawal of police cases filed against protesting farmers in the state over the course of the past year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has even sent a proposal to all states/UTs, asking them to consider the withdrawal of all cases filed against farmers who were part of the agitation.