New Delhi: The meeting between peasant leaders and the union government concluded on Tuesday, with another round of talks scheduled for December 3.
“The meeting was good and we have decided that the talks will take place on December 3. We wanted a small group to be formed but the peasant leaders wanted the talks to be held with everyone, we have no problem with that ”. said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
“We call on farmers to suspend the protests and come to the talks. However, this decision is up to the farmers’ unions and the farmers,” Tomar said.
“Our movement against the farm laws will continue and we will definitely withdraw something from the government, be it bullets or a peaceful solution. We will return to talk more with them,” said Chanda Singh, a member of the farmers’ delegation who met Tomar in Delhi today.
Meanwhile, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) President Joginder Singh Ugrahan said that the government’s meeting with protesting farmers ‘unions remained inconclusive and that another meeting with farmers’ unions had been scheduled for December 3.
“Today’s meeting was good and some progress was made. During our next meeting on December 3 with the government, we will convince them that no clause in the farm law favors farmers. Our agitation will continue,” said Prem Singh Bhangu, President. The entire Indian Kisan Federation on meeting with Tomar.
On Tuesday, the government offered to set up a committee to look at issues raised by farmers protesting the new farm laws, but it was rejected by representatives of 35 agitating organizations during their marathon meeting with three union ministers that ended without any resolution.
The meeting was unfinished and the government has called another round of discussions on Thursday, December 3, union leaders said.
The protesting farmers have expressed fear that the Center’s farm laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of large corporations.
The government has argued that the new laws will provide farmers with better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
At the nearly three-hour meeting in Vigyan Bhawan, the Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar was accompanied by the Minister of Railways and Trade and Industry, Piyush Goyal, and the Minister of State for Trade, Som Parkash, also deputy from Punjab.
“Farmers’ organizations rejected the government’s proposal to form a five-member committee to investigate issues related to the new agricultural laws,” Roopsingh Sanha, a member of the Bharat Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) told PTI.
It is one of the largest blocs of farmers who have been protesting against the new laws.
However, the government side was firm in its position that a high-level committee should be formed to examine the issues and wanted the farmer representatives to consider the proposal further.
Hours before the meeting, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Tomar and Goyal, along with BJP Chief JP Nadda, had held marathon discussions about the farmers’ protest against the Center’s new agricultural reform laws. .
Peaceful sit-ins by farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, continued at the Singhu and Tikri borders with no adverse incidents reported after Friday’s violence, while the number of protesters increased on the Ghazipur border on Monday.
The opposition parties also stepped up pressure, asking the Center to “respect the democratic struggle” of the peasants and repeal the laws.
An earlier meeting on November 13 had failed to make any progress and the next was originally scheduled for December 3, but moved forward due to ongoing protests on the Delhi borders.
With PTI inputs
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