Guwahati: Ending their 15-month-long agitation against the three contentious farm laws, farmer unions have decided to vacate the borders of Delhi and return home on 11 December.
The farmers have planned to take out victory marches on the day at the Singhu and Tikri protest sites to their homes.
“We have decided to suspend our agitation. We will hold a review meeting on 15 January. If the government does not fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation,” said farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni following a meeting of Samyukta Kisan Morcha.
This came after the central government on Thursday sent a letter to farmers, promising to form a committee to take a call on the Minimum Support Price and withdrawing cases against them immediately.
“The prime minister and the Union agriculture minister have announced that a committee regarding MSP will be formed. This committee will comprise representatives from the state and central government, farmer union and agricultural scientists,” read the letter.
“One of the mandates of this committee will be to ensure that all the farmers across the country are able to get MSP for their produce. The Centre, in its earlier communications, has already established that the present MSP regime will continue,” it added.
As far as the matter of compensation is concerned, UP and Haryana have given in-principle consent, said the letter.
In view of this, farmers have already started removing tents from their protest site on the Singhu border.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of around 40 farmer unions, had said on Wednesday that a consensus regarding a revised draft proposal of the Centre on their six pending demands has been reached.
“Consensus has reached on government’s fresh proposal. Now, a formal communication signed on the government’s letterhead is awaited. SKM will meet again tomorrow at twelve noon, at Singhu Border, to take a formal decision thereafter to lift the morchas,” the SKM said in a statement.
After the repeal of the farm laws, the farmers had said that their protest will continue until they get legal guarantee for MSP, withdrawal of cases against farmers and removal of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, whose son is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
They had also demanded that a memorial should be built for the protesters who lost their lives during the agitation and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill.
On 19 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the Centre will bring necessary bills in the winter session of parliament to repeal the farm laws. The PM also said that the government will constitute a committee to work on a new framework for MSP.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill on the first day of the winter session on 29 November. President Ram Nath Kovind also gave his assent to the bill that completes the process of repealing the three farm laws.
