Farmers to Protest Across India on March 21 as Promises on Minimum Support Price Unfulfilled

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organization of farmers, announced on Monday that it will organize nationwide protests on March 21 since the Centre has not fulfilled promises, including setting up a panel on Minimum Support Price. 

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday, February 4, that the government will form a panel to discuss the Minimum Support Price, or MSP, after the Assembly elections. 

The Minimum Support Price is the rate at which the government purchases agricultural produce and is calculated to be at least one and a half times the cost of production incurred by farmers. Many crops have market prices that are significantly lower than the Minimum Support Price. 

Farmers have been demanding that minimum support price guarantee be extended to all produce, not just rice and wheat. 

 “There has been no progress in fulfilling the promises made by the Centre to farmers on the subject of constituting a panel on MSP to make legislation on it, withdrawal of cases against farmers, and expulsion of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni from the Cabinet" said Samkyukta Kisan Morcha member Abhimanyu Tomar. 

On October 3, Ashish Mishra allegedly ran over eight people, including four farmers and a journalist, with a car during a protest against the now-repealed three farm laws in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district. 

On February 10, the Allahabad High Court granted him bail. Last month, the families of the murdered farmers petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the bail judgment. 

During the agitation against the Centre's three farm laws, which took place between November 2020 and December 2021, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had been a prominent voice. Farmers had protested because they were concerned that the new laws will allow private companies to enter the country's agricultural markets. 

On January 31, the farmers’ body had observed the ‘Day of Betrayal’ to shed light on the non-fulfillment of the Centre’s assurances to the farmers.