Peasant leaders leave the meeting with the agriculture secretary and protest in front of the Krishi Bhawan in Delhi.
A seven-member panel of protesting farmers in Punjab was formed on Tuesday to hold talks with the Center. The head of the Bharatiya Kisan (Rajewal) Union, Balbir Singh Rajewal, said that they have decided that representatives of all farmers’ bodies will attend the meeting.
- News18.com
- Last update: October 14, 2020 4:59 PM IST
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The leaders of 29 farmers’ unions walked out of the meeting with the agriculture secretary on Wednesday that was held to discuss recently enacted farm laws. The leaders broke copies of the law in front of the Krishi Bhawan of Delhi.
One leader said that they left the meeting because no minister was present. “We want these laws to be withdrawn,” he said. Another cited “unsatisfactory discussions” as the reason for the strike. “We want these black laws to be eliminated. The secretary said that he will communicate our demands more,” added the leader.
A seven-member panel of farmers protesting in Punjab formed Tuesday for talks with the Center. The head of the Bharatiya Kisan (Rajewal) Union, Balbir Singh Rajewal, said that they have decided that representatives of all farmers’ bodies will attend the meeting.
The leaders included in the panel are Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Jagjit singh Dalewal, Jagmohan Singh, Kulwant Singh, Surjit Singh and Satnam Singh Sahni. Earlier on Monday, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, a farmers’ body in Punjab, decided not to attend the meeting called by the Union Department of Agriculture on October 14.
Farmers’ organizations, whose agitation against the laws has disrupted rail traffic and severely affected the supply of coal to thermal power plants in Punjab, last week rejected the Center’s invitation to participate in a “conference to address their concerns” on the October 8th. Rajewal said according to the invitation sent by the secretary of the Union Department of Agriculture, the Center wants to dialogue with them.
Farmers in Punjab have called for the three laws recently passed by Parliament to be repealed. Farmers have expressed fear that the new laws will pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of large corporations.
Yet the government has been saying that laws passed by Parliament recently amid noisy protest will raise farmers’ incomes, free them from the clutches of middlemen, and usher in new technology in agriculture.
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