In a three page letter written to 40 farmer leadersVivek Aggarwal, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said: “I request again that the government has been discussing all the issues with an open heart and with good intentions to end the protest, and will continue to do so. Date and time (for the next round of conversations) “.
The government writes to the agitated farmers, asking them to decide the date and time of the next round of talks. “The government is com … https://t.co/3wsgsSEkU3
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The previous five rounds of talks between the government and the unions have failed to break the deadlock with farmers who insisted on repealing the three laws and camping at various border points in Delhi for nearly a month.
Aggarwal asked the union leaders to provide details on other issues they wanted to discuss. The talks will be held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi at the ministerial level, he said.
Regarding MSP, Aggarwal said that the agricultural laws have no connection with the price regime nor will they have any impact on the acquisition of agricultural products at fixed rates.
This has been told to the unions in every discussion and it has also been made clear that the government is ready to give written guarantees on the MSP, he said.
“Any new lawsuit related to MSP, which is outside the scope of agricultural laws, is not logical to include in the talks. As previously reported, the government is ready to discuss all the issues raised by the farmers’ unions,” he noted .
Aggarwal’s letter came in response to the December 23 letter from Samyukt Kisan Morcha, in which he informed the government that the farmers’ unions are ready for talks, but asked him to send a “concrete proposal in writing in instead of repeating the rejected proposals around pointless amendments. ”
In the December 24 letter, the government reiterated that it is ready to find a “logical solution” to the problems raised by the protesting farmers’ unions.
Aggarwal said it is important to keep all doors open for government discussion. It is the government’s responsibility to listen to farmers’ organizations and farmers and the government cannot deny this.
The open-hearted government has held several rounds of discussion with the farmers’ unions under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and urged them to choose a date according to their convenience for the next round of talks, he added.
Thousands of Punjab farmers, Haryana, UP and some other states are protesting the Agricultural Price Assurance and Services Agreement for Farmers (Empowerment and Protection), the Agricultural Products Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Products (Amendment) Act.
Enacted in September, the three agricultural laws have been projected by the central 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 apprehension that the new laws would pave the way to remove the Minimum Livelihood Price safety cushion and end the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of large corporations.
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