BREAKING: Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda Meet Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Ahead of Crucial Talks With Farmers

Chandigarh: Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai are currently meeting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at a hotel in Chandigarh before meeting farmers ahead of the crucial fourth round of discussion, according to our sources. This is an informal meeting between the Union Ministers and Punjab CM in a bid to resolve all pending issues with the farmers. As per our sources, Mann would head to the official venue to meet the farmer union leaders following which, the Union Ministers would join the meeting. The farm union leaders have been demanding legal status for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and farm loan waiver among other issues.

The legal guarantee for MSP remains a contentious issue as the farmers have asked the formula to be set along the lines of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations. As per the Commission's guidelines, the formula accounts for 50% over the weighted cost of production as against 1.5 times the government currently provides over the inputs costs to the farmers as MSP.  

After reaching here, Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda and Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal went to a hotel where Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav were present.

The meeting between the ministers and the farmer leaders will be held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26.

The two sides had met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but the talks remained inconclusive.

Prominent among the farmer leaders who will attend the meeting are Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher, who are spearheading the agitation.
 

(With inputs from Amandeep Dixit and PTI)