The Northern Railway said on Friday that as many as 41 trains were canceled and eleven halted in view of the farmers’ unrest in Punjab.
Hours earlier, the Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Minister of Railways, Food and Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal, held talks with a delegation of Punjab farmer representatives, protesting against a set of laws recently passed to liberalize the agricultural sector, in the national meeting. Vigyan Bhawan from the capital.
This is the government’s second attempt to negotiate with farmers and break a dead end following the agitation of farmers in some states, particularly Punjab, against the Center’s initiative to open agricultural markets in the nation.
Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal had met with a delegation of farmers on October 14, after inviting them to talk, to convince them to end their protest, but the meeting had ended in a stalemate.
Punjab farmers have launched protests, blocking railways and road transport, since the government enacted three farm laws in September.
Together, the three laws allow agricultural companies to trade freely in agricultural products by easing restrictions, allow private traders to store essential commodities for future sales, and establish new rules for contract farming.
Protesting farmers say the reforms could make them vulnerable to exploitation, erode their bargaining power and weaken the government’s minimum support price (MSP) system, which offers farmers government-guaranteed prices, mainly for wheat. and rice.
Farmers’ organizations are likely to push for the MSP system to become law, which is high on their agenda.
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