New Delhi:
A meeting of 30 groups of farmers protesting in Delhi with the Center ended abruptly today in the absence of the Union agriculture minister. The meeting was taking place with the agriculture secretary, but the farmers were demanding the presence of the Union Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar.
Annoyed by his absence, farmers began raising slogans within the ministry and smashing copies of the controversial farm laws. They also said that they will continue their agitation against the controversial farm laws.
Farmer groups, who have been on the warpath for months over controversial farm laws, had decided yesterday to hold talks with the Center. The decision was made by representatives of 29 farmer groups at a meeting in Chandigarh.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union, or BKU (Ugrahan), which did not attend the meeting, also decided to participate in the meeting called by the Center in New Delhi.
“Our three members will participate in the meeting in Delhi,” BKU (Ugrahan) Secretary General Sukhdev Singh Khokrikalan was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.
Under the new laws, farmers can sell their produce anywhere in the country and deal directly with large corporations, a situation that farmers have found alarming.
Most feel that they would be left at the mercy of the companies and that, with the phase-out of APMC’s wholesale agricultural markets, they will not get even the minimum price to support their products.
.
