The next round of the center-farmers talk is scheduled for January 4 (Archive)
New Delhi:
Protesting farmers will intensify their agitation on Delhi’s borders if the center rejects their demands to repeal the three farm laws and give the guaranteed minimum price of living legal status in the next round of talks, scheduled for January 4, politician Yogendra Yadav, speaking on behalf of the farmers’ unions, reported on Friday.
The decision was made today at a meeting of the joint front of 40 peasant unions that has been leading the protests.
“The government has not moved on two of our demands – repeal the laws and the legal status of the MSP. We will intensify the protests. If nothing comes out of the January 4 meeting, then we will have a tractor rally in the GT-” . Karnal road on January 6, “Yadav said at a press conference on the Singhu border, the epicenter of the protests.
“If the government does not agree to our demands, we will start marching towards Delhi from the Shahjahanpur border next week,” he added.
After the sixth round of talks by the farmers’ center on Wednesday, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said that the two sides had reached an “agreement” on two of the four demands.
However, sources say, no progress has been made on the farmers’ main demands: the repeal of the laws and a legal guarantee for the MSP.
On Friday, at the press conference, peasant leaders claimed that only 5 percent of the issues raised by them so far have been discussed in meetings with the government.
“If the January 4 meeting with the government fails to end the stalemate, we will announce the dates to close all shopping malls and gasoline pumps in Haryana,” farmer leader Vikas was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.
Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and several states have been protesting the three laws in and around the national capital for more than a month. They fear that the laws will make them susceptible to being exploited by corporate companies. They also affirm that through these laws, the center wants to eliminate the minimum support price guarantee.
However, the government says the laws are not intended to end the existing system, but to provide better avenues for farmers to sell their crops. He promised that the MSP system will not be removed.
With PTI inputs
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