After the meeting is over, All India Kisan Sabha Leader Hannan mollah he said the Center was not ready to withdraw the farm laws. While this had been conveyed even earlier by Union ministers Narendra Tomar Y Piyush Goyal, the message Shah amplifies has a degree of finality even when he patiently listened to the farmers.
It is understood that Shah provided a written guarantee that the minimum support price (MSP) regime will not be discarded while explaining that the retention of the APMC system was not related to the laws. The Center has also conveyed its preparation to strengthen the mandi system.
Thirteen agricultural leaders They were going to meet with Shah, but two were unable to make it to the ICAR campus, but they did include key representatives who have been leading the uproar against the farm laws. The lukewarm response to Bharat bandh The call from the farmers’ unions, backed by various opposition parties, could also have strengthened the Center’s negotiating stance, as BJP leaders felt the unions had overdone themselves. The meeting was attended by nine union leaders from Punjab and four others, including Mollah and Rakesh Tikait from the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
As of now, the sixth scheduled round of talks may not take place on Wednesday. Instead, the government will hand over to the unions its preliminary proposal that would comprise the Center’s plan to introduce certain amendments to the laws, largely along the lines that have been previously proposed. The farmers’ representatives were not very happy with the outcome of the meeting, as they said that while the government wanted to continue the dialogue, the farmers were tired of expressing their point of view.
Agricultural leaders said discussions with the government will likely take place on December 10 after they deliberate on the new proposals.
The government said that while the three farm laws will not be repealed, it was ready to introduce certain amendments to address concerns about the dilution of the MSP, the role of corporate houses, and the impact of the changed rules for holding shares.
“There will be no meeting between the farmers’ unions and the government on Wednesday. The minister has said that we will be given a proposal. We will hold a meeting on the government’s proposal. The government is not ready to withdraw the agricultural laws, ”Mollah said.
Shah’s meeting with farmers’ leaders indicated that the government was trying to clearly convey its results. While he is interested in ending the uproar, especially because of reports on the role of separatist groups seeking to exploit the situation, he has ruled out accepting the “maximalist” demands put forward by the unions.
The amendments, which the government proposed as part of the solutions for farmers, refer to the registration of private traders to trade outside the regulated ‘mandis’ and the publication of their data on a government portal, equal taxes for APMC mandis and private markets to provide a level playing field. field for trade and allowing higher courts of appeal in contract farming disputes.
Before addressing the meeting, the farmers’ leaders reiterated that they will not go to Nirankari’s farm in Burari as the Interior Ministry wanted. When asked about the option of going to Ramlila’s field, the peasant leaders said that they would make such a decision after speaking with all the unions.
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