NEW DELHI: The protesting farmers’ unions met on Friday to discuss the government’s latest letter inviting them to dialogue, with some of them indicating that they may decide to resume their dialogue with the Center to find a solution to the ongoing deadlock over the three disputes agri laws.
The unions said they will hold another meeting on Saturday where a formal decision is likely to be made on the Center’s invitation for the resumption of the stalled talks.
An official in the Union Ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare also said the government looked forward to the next round meeting that will take place in the next two or three days.
One of those protesting union leaders, who did not want to be named, said his demand for a legal guarantee on the minimum support price, however, will remain the same.
“We have another meeting tomorrow to make a decision on the Center’s letter. At this meeting, we can decide to resume talks with the government, as it appears in its previous letters that it has not been able to understand our problems so far,” he said. .
He said that the government’s letters have no proposals, which is why the farmers’ unions may decide to have further talks and make him understand their demands.
“The MSP cannot separate itself from our demand to repeal these three laws. In these laws, private mandis are mentioned. Who will guarantee that our harvest is sold to MSP if not there? Asked another leader.
On Friday, several farmers’ unions held a meeting, but no decision could be made on the latest letter from the Center.
On Thursday, the Co-Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Welfare, Vivek Aggarwal, wrote to the protesting unions and invited them to further talks, but made it clear that it would not be “logical” to include any new demands related to the MSP on the agenda, which it is outside the scope of the three new farm laws.
On Wednesday, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a coordinating body of 40 unions protesting at three border points in Delhi, Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, for the past 28 days, had asked the government not to repeat the proposed “nonsensical” amendments. . that they have already rejected, but that they present a “concrete offer” in writing for the resumption of the talks.
The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordinating Committee demanded on Friday that the Center organize trains for farmers from different parts of the country to reach the ongoing protests at the Delhi border points, adding that they are willing to pay the cost of the tickets for all peasants.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly blamed those with a political agenda for the stalemate in the Center’s talks with protesting farmers and claimed that his government was willing to dialogue with everyone, including those who strongly opposed him. as long as the talks are based on agricultural issues, facts and logic.
Enacted in September, the three agricultural laws have been projected by the Center as major reforms in the agricultural sector that will eliminate intermediaries and allow farmers to sell their products anywhere in the country.
However, protesting farmers have expressed fear that the new laws would pave the way to remove the MSP’s safety cushion and end the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of large corporations.
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