Leaders leading the farmers’ agitation have set new terms for talks with the Union government, demanding the name of the Center and authorizing a cabinet committee or group of ministers for future discussions, the Coordination Committee said Sunday. by Kisan Sangharsh from All India (AIKSCC).
Nearly 30 leaders of various farmers’ organizations met on Sunday to discuss Interior Minister Amit Shah’s offer to advance the date of the next round of talks scheduled for December 3. On November 28, Interior Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote a letter addressed to Darshan Pal Singh – the Punjab head of the Krantikari Kisan Union, along with 31 organizations, reiterating the Interior Minister’s offer to hold early talks.
The AIKSCC said the Interior Ministry should not lead the discussions as agriculture was outside its jurisdiction. “We have rejected the offer to speak with the Ministry of the Interior. The Home Office has nothing to do with farmers or agriculture, ”said Darshan Pal.
In response to the Interior Minister’s invitation, the farmers’ representatives set new conditions for the next round of talks, calling for participation at the “highest political level”.
“The Prime Minister makes all the decisions in the country. Although the Union ministers have participated in the last round of talks, we are not sure that they are empowered to make decisions. We want a cabinet committee or a group of ministers duly authorized or notified by the highest political level for future discussions, ”said Avik Saha, national secretary of the AIKSCC.
Sunday is the fourth day since farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, among other neighboring states, launched their “Dilli chalo” (march to Delhi) campaign to protest against a set of laws to liberalize agricultural trade and open agricultural markets in the country.
Saha said that during the anti-corruption agitation led by Anna Hazare in 2013, a cabinet panel was appointed to conduct negotiations with the protest leaders. “We want a similar mechanism for the talks, because sometimes the talks are led by the ministers of agriculture and food and sometimes it seems like the interior ministry runs them,” Saha said.
The farmers’ latest position could delay the next round of talks with the government to resolve the politically defiant turmoil.
“The AIKSCC has demanded that the government stop addressing the issue from the prism of intelligence agencies and the Ministry of the Interior. The government succeeded in getting these statutes approved by Parliament, and farmers await a political response from the highest levels of government. Their attempt to invoke the Ministry of the Interior only acts as a threat to the farmers, rather than awakening confidence in their sincerity, ”the AIKCC said in a statement.
Thousands of farmers have clashed with the police, traveling to the National Capital, where they are holding protests against three agricultural laws passed by Parliament in September.
Cultivators in tractors and trucks threw police barricades into a river near the Ambala district as they advanced towards the national capital, while police detained them with tear gas and water cannons. The Union Interior Ministry on Friday allowed farmers to gather on the capital’s Burari land and made a new offer for talks.
“Farmers clearly want to be sure that the ministers who would negotiate with them should be empowered to make decisions. That seems to be the message, ”said political analyst Sanjay Kukreti of the University of Osmania.
Farmers want the Narendra Modi government to repeal three contentious laws passed by Parliament in September. The laws essentially change the way India’s farmers do business by creating free markets, as opposed to a decades-old network of government-controlled agricultural markets.
Together, the laws allow companies to freely trade agricultural products outside the so-called “mandi system” controlled by the government, they allow private traders to store large quantities of basic products for future sales, which previously could only be done by agents approved by the government, and establish new rules for contract farming.
Farmers say the reforms would make them vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations, erode their bargaining power and weaken the government’s procurement system, whereby the government buys commodities, such as wheat and rice, at guaranteed prices. .
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal held one-day negotiations with farmers on November 13. Discussions were inconclusive, but both parties agreed to continue negotiations in the future.
.
