Farm laws: BKU's Rakesh Tikait adds new claim on MSP crop procurement; wants CBI inquiry

In a new twist in the farm laws protests, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader and spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Thursday alleged corruption in Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crop procurement for the year 2021-22. Rakesh Tikait, who has been at the helm of the farm laws protests, claimed that 11,000 out of 26,000 farmers were fake in the MSP procurement in Rampur. While speaking to the media, the BKU leader waived off a bunch of papers claiming them to be the documents that prove the alleged corruption. 

"We will provide the document. Farming is being shown at the places where schools & buildings are being constructed there," Rakesh Tikait alleged while demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter. Speaking on the APMC Mandis, he claimed that the Mandis are in a dire situation and will be shut in two years.

This comes as a new development in the farm laws stir as the protestors have been demanding the complete repeal of the farm laws, while the Central Government has been urging the protesting farm unions and the protestors to resume dialogue and highlight the clauses in the laws that they have problems with. However, the farmers have refused to hold deliberations while maintaining that any talks in future will only be for the repealing of the farm laws. The Government has made amply clear that the farm laws will not be repealed, however, the government has agreed to any amendments if required and has also stayed the farm laws for 18 months amid the protests.

The farm laws protestors have been holding 'Kisan Sansad' (Farmer's parliament) at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. It is said to continue till the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Two hundred protestors are said to visit Jantar Mantar every day and stage demonstrations against the three agrarian laws, while one speaker and one deputy speaker is chosen each day during the protests.

The protesting farmers and their unions fear that the APMC market system will cease to exist or will weaken with the implementation of new farm laws. The protestors also believe that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism is also under threat due to the new farm laws. However, to assuage the protesting farmers and to strengthen the APMC markets, the Centre has made APMC Mandis eligible to avail financial support from the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to expand the regulated markets' capacity and provide better facilities to farmers.

On multiple occasions, the Centre has given assurances that the MSP mechanism will continue even after the implementation of farm laws and it also agreed to give a written assurance. The government has also stated that it has procured the farmers' produce in record quantities in the following period, however, the protesting farmers have reiterated the demands of repealing the farm laws. The protesting farmers - majorly from Punjab and some parts of Haryana and UP - have even refused to hold deliberations with the Supreme Court-appointed panel to understand the issue of the farmers with respect to the farm laws.