Thousands of farmers in India have rejected the government’s offer to guarantee minimum support prices (MSPs) for five crops in exchange for ending their protests. The farmers, who have been camping on the outskirts of New Delhi for over two months, are demanding a legal guarantee for MSPs on 23 crops and the repeal of three farm laws that they say will benefit big corporations.
The government, which has held several rounds of talks with the farmers’ unions, proposed on Sunday that it would enter into five-year contracts with farmers who diversify their crops to grow pulses, corn and cotton, and buy their produce at MSPs through cooperative groups. The government also said that the Cotton Corporation of India would buy cotton crops at MSPs from farmers who sign the contracts.
However, the farmers’ unions rejected the proposal, saying that it was not addressing their main demand of a legal guarantee for MSPs on all crops. They also said that the contracts would not benefit the majority of farmers who grow wheat and rice, and that they would not trust the government’s promises.
