Centre to hold meeting with protesting farmers on Feb 14

The Centre will hold a meeting with Punjabs protesting farmers on February 14 in Chandigarh to discuss their demands thus ending a stalemate over the resumption of a dialogue with the agitators who have been demanding a legal guarantee on the MSP for crops Following the announcement of the proposed meeting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal whose fastuntodeath entered the 54th day on Saturday agreed to take medical aidHowever he will not end his indefinite fast till a legal guarantee on the minimum support price MSP for crops is given said farmer leader Sukhjit Singh Hardojhande Later pictures showing Dallewal taking medical aid with an intravenous drip were released by the farmersThe breakthrough came after a delegation of officials from the Union agriculture ministry led by Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan met Dallewal and held a meeting with the representatives of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha NonPolitical and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha KMM which are spearheading the agitation for the last 11 monthsFollowing the announcement of the meeting on February 14 farmer leaders appealed to Dallewal to take medical aid so that he can participate in the proposed deliberations The Centres delegation also urged Dallewal to take medical aid so that he can participate in the proposed meeting which will take place at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration at Chandigarh at 5 pm on February 14Talking to reporters at the Khanauri protest site Ranjan said a highlevel delegation was sent by the Centre keeping in mind the deteriorating health of Dallewal We enquired about his health and held a meeting with the representatives of the protesting farmer bodies he said Ranjan said the meeting will be held in Chandigarh on February 14 We urged him Dallewal to break his fast and take medical aid so that he can participate in the meeting he saidA letter addressed to Dallewal SKM NonPolitical and KMM read This is in continuation of the previous meeting with the leaders of SKM NonPolitical and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha KMM which was held on February 15 2024 at ChandigarhA meeting with the ministers of the government of India and the Punjab government regarding the demands of the farmers unions has been convened on February 14 2025 5 pm at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration Punjab MGSIPA Sector26 Chandigarh You are cordially invited to the meeting please attend at the scheduled time We hope that Dallewal will soon end his fast recover and join the discussion said the letter written by RanjanFour rounds of meetings had taken place between Union ministers and the protesting farmers on February 8 12 15 and 18 last year but the talks remained inconclusive Earlier in the day the farmers protesting at the Khanauri and Shambhu border points between Punjab and Haryana said they have received a proposal from the central government which they will discussThe Centres delegation held meetings with the representatives of both the forums A Punjab government team led by retired additional director general of police Jaskaran Singh and former deputy inspector general of police Narinder Bhargav who were holding discussions with the farmer leaders was also present According to farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar officials have said February 14 has been fixed for the meeting as Assembly polls are due in Delhi and the Model Code of Conduct will be in force in the capital till February 9When the Model Code of Conduct is in force no government can make any announcement Kohar said Sharing details about Dallewals health Kohar said the farmer leader was unable to take water and had been vomiting Doctors have warned that anything could happen to Dallewal he added Before agreeing to take medical aid Dallewal had asked the farmer leaders to take consent from the 121 farmers who were also on an indefinite fastA few days ago a group of 111 farmers and later 10 more farmers sat on a fastuntodeath in solidarity with Dallewal Dallewal who is the convenor of the SKM NonPolitical has been on the indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border point since November 26 last year in support of various demands including a legal guarantee on the MSP for cropsFarmers had said Dallewal had not eaten anything since November 26 last year and was just surviving on water Farmer leaders on Thursday said Dallewal has lost about 20kg weight during his fastuntodeath The weight of Dallewal has reduced to 664 kg now from 869 kg when he began the indefinite fast Farmers under the banner of the SKM NonPolitical and KMM have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since February 13 last year after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands including a legal guarantee on the MSP for their cropsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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