- Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar met Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders in Gurugram to discuss farmer demands
- Farmers submitted a 10-point charter including MSP guarantee, farm debt waiver, and India-US trade concerns
- Khattar assured protection of farm sectors in India-US trade pact and promised transparency on compensation
About six months ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections, in which the rural/farmer vote is key, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has moved to engage with protesting farmer groups. Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a late-night meeting with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), an umbrella organisation of farm unions, in Gurugram on Thursday, September 3. The nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting saw farmer leaders submit a 10-point charter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, putting guarantees for minimum support price (MSP), waiver of farm debt, concerns over the India-US trade deal, issues related to electricity transmission lines, and the withdrawal of cases against protesters on the table.
According to a press statement issued by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) on Friday, the meeting had originally been scheduled by the Centre for September 4, but was advanced at the request of the minister. Convener Jagjit Singh Dallewal led the 13-member SKM delegation and drew leaders from eight states, including PR Pandian (Tamil Nadu), Mahesh Belgaonkar (Karnataka), Gajendra Jhala (Gujarat), Indrajit Panniwala (Rajasthan), Rajinder Chahal, Harshdeep Singh Gill and Abhimanyu Kohar (Haryana), Leeladhar Singh Rajput (Madhya Pradesh), Prahlad Poonia and Sonveer Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh), and Satnam Singh Behru and Sukhdev Singh Bhojraj (Punjab). The demand charter was signed by Dallewal and co-convener Kurburu Shantakumar.
The talks came after the farmers had to postpone their proposed 228-km 'Kisan Bachao Padyatra' (Save Farmers Footmarch) to Delhi from the Khanauri-Data Singhwala border following an assurance of dialogue from the Haryana administration
Khattar, who was chief minister of Haryana before shifting to PM Narendra Modi's Cabinet, termed the talks "very good and cordial" and said the farmers' demands would be conveyed to the concerned departments.
A more detailed account of what the minister said inside the room came from the SKM statement.
Demands On India-US Trade Pact, Other Issues
The India-US trade agreement, currently being negotiated, emerged as a major flashpoint, with farmers demanding that agriculture, dairy, poultry and fisheries be kept completely outside the proposed pact. According to the farmers, Khattar assured them that the interests of these sectors would be protected and that the Centre would soon issue a public statement making its position clear.
The farmers also pushed their long-standing demand for a legal guarantee for MSP on all crops, based on the Swaminathan Commission's 'C2+50%' formula -- meaning comprehensive cost plus 50 per cent profit -- besides a complete farm-loan waiver.
The charter stated that in 2011, as chairman of the Working Group on Consumer Affairs, Narendra Modi as Gujarat CM recommended to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that statutory provisions be used to ensure that crop transactions between farmer and buyer do not take place below the government-declared MSP. On debt, the charter argued that farmers were pushed into borrowing because they were denied remunerative MSP.
On electricity, Khattar, who is the Power Minister, reportedly acknowledged shortcomings in the existing compensation policy for land affected by high-tension transmission lines. He assured the delegation that corrective measures were being considered and that a better policy would be brought soon, and agreed to bring transparency into the process of assessing land market value.
The Centre also agreed to examine the demand for 60 per cent of market value as compensation for Right of Way in rural areas. The charter argued that rural land is already valued lower than urban land, and that villages receive only 30 per cent of market value for Right of Way against 60 per cent in cities. It further sought four times the market value as compensation for high-tension lines under a national policy, withdrawal of a "lottery system" of assessing market value, and participation of farmers' valuers in the assessment process.
Another politically sensitive demand was the withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the 2020-21 and 2024-25 agitations. Khattar assured the farmers that he would take up the matter with officials and move in a positive direction.
The 10-point charter also seeks Rs 600 per quintal sugarcane FRP (Fair and Remunerative Price), payment to cane growers within 14 days citing a court order and 12-15 per cent interest as additional payment in case of delay, and restoration of key provisions of the 2013 land acquisition law, such as written consent of 75 per cent of farmers before acquisition, compensation at four times the market rate, and priority to barren land.
It further demanded a national policy to compensate farmers for losses caused by floods, droughts and other climate-related disasters, and wide-ranging changes to the crop insurance scheme, arguing that the government's own data shows the existing scheme benefits corporate houses rather than farmers.
Why Meeting Matters
The meeting assumes significance as the BJP seeks to expand its political footprint in Punjab ahead of the 2027 polls, while farmer issues continue to remain a potent electoral fault line in the state.
The delegation's spread across Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh also signals the Morcha's attempt to project the platform as national rather than Punjab-centric.
For the Centre, the outreach comes at a crucial juncture. For the farmers, however, the talks have produced assurances, not a settlement.
