However, agricultural unions intensified their agitation in various parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and MP. They sat down in quick and organized demonstrations and blocked key roads, causing traffic jams that lasted for several hours in some places, particularly paralyzing transport on National Highway 8, the main link between Rajasthan and Delhi.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh echoed Tomar, saying the Center was open to dialogue, but claimed that recent reforms had been carried out with the best interests of farmers in mind and that “there is no possibility of take retrograde measures “against the agricultural sector, since it was the” Mother “of all sectors.
Live updates: farmers protest against new farm laws
Speaking at a Ficci convention, Singh said: “We are always ready to listen to our fellow farmers, dispel their misgivings, and provide assurances (that) we can provide. Our government is always open to discussion and dialogue, ”adding that agriculture was a sector capable of avoiding the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our products and acquisitions have been plentiful and our warehouses are full,” he said. Tomar met with Haryana MPs and MLAs on issues related to farm laws, the state’s involvement in the waters of the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal, and the construction of three dams on the upper reaches of the Yamuna River.
Meanwhile, in Punjab and Haryana, farmers held demonstrations and gherao at the deputy commissioners’ offices with large numbers of protesters showing up in tractor cars. In Rajasthan, buses and trucks on state roads remained disconnected from states including Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal and J&K and some parts of UP for the second day in a row due to protests near Shahjahanpur in Haryana in NH- 8.
Taxis and private bus operators also did not operate their buses to Delhi. Meanwhile, the government received a boost, even as protests escalated, with the late Sharad Joshi’s All-India Kisan Coordination Committee supporting the new farm laws and his representatives meeting in Tomar.
The AIKCC suggested making the laws “optional for states to accept or reject” as a way out to end the current stalemate. Although groups from Haryana and Uttarakhand had met with Tomar in support of the laws last week, the incorporation of AIKCC is significant as this umbrella organization has nearly 7,000 agricultural NGOs as members working in Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Punjab, TN , Bihar, Up and Kerala.
The AIKCC in its memorandum to the minister demanded the continuation of the new laws with certain amendments and even suggested allowing genetically modified technology and other scientific tools to make Indian agricultural products more competitive in world trade.
“The (AIKCC) committee has welcomed these agricultural reform laws and told us that they have been fighting to have such laws in the country for a long time to get farmers free (from various trade restrictions and controls),” he said. Drink.
On the existing deadlock, Tomar, who met with Interior Minister Amit Shah for the second day in a row on Monday to discuss the issue of farmers, reiterated that the government is ready for talks.
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