At the beginning of the fifth round of talks here in Vigyan Bhawan, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told a group of 40 representatives from various farmers’ unions that the government is committed to cordial talks and welcomed all comments. positive about new farm laws, sources. said.
Later, Minister of State for Trade Som Parkash, a Punjab MP, addressed the leaders in Punjab and said that the government understands Punjab’s sentiments.
“We are ready to address all your concerns with an open mind,” a source told Parkash’s union leaders.
Talks between the government and the protesting unions began at around 2.30 pm and the Minister of Railways, Commerce and Food, Piyush Goyal, also attended.
In his opening remarks, Tomar, who is leading the talks for the Center, said the government is committed to “peaceful talks with farmer leaders and has no intention of hurting farmers’ feelings.”
The agriculture minister welcomed the comments on the three farm laws, while agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal summarized the procedures from the previous four rounds of talks with farmers’ unions during the meeting, the sources said.
The two sides are believed to have discussed contentious issues such as the provision for dispute resolution and the registration of merchants in private mandi proposed under the new laws.
Before the meeting, Tomar and Goyal, along with top union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, had met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliberate on proposals that would likely be made to the agitation groups.
Modi’s decision to hold discussions with the Union ministers, who have so far been the face of the Center’s efforts to end the farmers’ agitation, signifies the importance that the prime minister has attached to defusing the crisis, the sources said.
On Thursday, talks between Union ministers and a representative group of thousands of agitating farmers had yielded no resolution, as union leaders stood firm on their demand for repeal of the new farm laws despite the government’s He offered to “discuss and consider with an open mind” some key points of concern raised by farmers in the three new laws.
Farmers announced a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on December 8 on Friday and threatened to intensify their unrest and block more roads leading to the national capital if the government does not accept their demands.
Enacted in September, the three agricultural laws have been presented by the government as major reforms in the agricultural sector that will eliminate middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, protesting farmers have expressed fear that the new laws would pave the way to remove the Minimum Livelihood Price safety cushion and eliminate mandis, leaving them at the mercy of large corporations. The Center has maintained that the MSP and mandi systems will continue and will continue to be improved and strengthened.
Undeterred by the winter cold, thousands of farmers have stayed at various border points in Delhi for the past nine days as part of their protest against the Center’s agricultural laws.
Before the start of the meeting, an All India Kisan Sabha official said that only the repeal of the new agricultural laws will end the stalemate.
“At this juncture, we have transport unions, retail businesses and other associated groups that have shown solidarity with us. Our movement is not just about farmers,” said AIKS finance secretary Krishna Prasad.
Outside the meeting venue, employees of the Indian Tour Carriers Association (ITTA), which has provided vehicles for the transit movement of protesting farmers, were seen holding a banner reading ‘We support farmers’ and shouting slogans that support the agitation of the peasants.
“I belong to the family of a farmer. I identify with his fears. We had farmland in Mahipalpur and now you see the T-3 terminal. We are supporting farmers protesting their cause,” the IITA president told PTI, Satish Sehrawat.
He said the association is providing transport facilities to farmers since their first meeting.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) Secretary General Onkar Singh Agaul said: “Our demand remains the same that the government withdraw the three agricultural laws. We want the MSP to be guaranteed by law.”
He also sought the removal of the electricity amendment law and an ordinance on stubble burning.
Punjab BJP leader Surjit Kumar Jayani, while entering Vigyan Bhawan together with his party colleague Harjeet Singh Grewal, hoped that the problem would be resolved soon.
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