Broken promises”The Dr Swaminathan Commission, formed in 2006 to address farmer suicides, submitted its report to the UPA government, but it was not implemented. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, PM Modi promised to determine crop MSPs based on the C2+50% formula of the Swaminathan Commission. However, this promise remains unfulfilled,” the letter noted.”When we suspended our 378-day agitation in 2020–2021, the Union Agriculture Ministry handed us a letter on December 9, 2021, containing several written commitments. These included ensuring MSP for all farmers, exempting farming activities from pollution laws, providing proper compensation to the injured in Lakhimpur Kheri, consulting farmers before presenting the Electricity Bill in Parliament, and withdrawing cases against agitating farmers. None of these promises have been implemented so far,” it went on to add.Health condition remains seriousDoctors monitoring Dallewal’s health have reported that his condition is critical, and he refrained from meeting anyone on Friday. “I will continue on this path until my last breath,” he said.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has directed the Punjab government to move the fasting farmer leader to a nearby makeshift hospital at the Khanauri border for round-the-clock health monitoring.Many farmers, in solidarity with Dallewal, staged a symbolic hunger strike. Farmers from neighboring Haryana, under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU-Charuni), fasted in Kaithal to express their support for Dallewal.”The health condition of Dallewal is serious. The Union Government should hold talks with the protesting farmers and accept their demands. These include fulfilling promises made in December 2021, particularly the legal guarantee of MSP on all crops. Failure to do so has left farmers feeling betrayed,” said Vikram Kasana, State President of BKU (Charuni).
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