NEW DELHI: Ahead of your new round of conversations with the Center on Wednesday, agricultural unions In opposition to the new farm laws, one of his four demands was revised: to replace the “necessary changes” to the proposed electricity amendment bill with a call to withdraw it entirely.
In a letter to the government, while formally accepting their invitation for the seventh round of talks, the 40 unions that agitated on Tuesday claimed that their previous position on the electricity bill was due to a “mistake.”
Communication puzzled department of agriculture officials, who saw it as a case of movement of the goalposts, which made the resolution of the confrontation more difficult. If the latest talks do not result in any progress, both the Center and the unions seem ready to sit down.
Minister of Agriculture Narendra singh Take and the Minister of Railways and Food and Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal I met Interior Minister Amit Cha. They are known to have discussed the government’s strategy for the talks.
Although sources claimed that the ministers’ group meeting was intended for a routine debate on issues of prices and availability of essential commodities, both Tomar and Goyal will attend the agricultural talks on Wednesday. So far, both sides have held six meetings, including the last one on December 8, with Shah’s attendance.
Although the Electricity Bill (Amendment) had not been a major sticking point with the Center ready to consider changes, the call for its withdrawal makes it a more complicated issue.
The Center had invited the unions to dialogue on Monday, saying the Ministry of Agriculture is committed to finding “logical solutions to relevant issues” that can be acceptable to all. In response, the unions wrote on Tuesday that talks must take place on their four specific agenda items in a certain order to find solutions.
Agenda items include “modalities to repeal” the three core agricultural laws, a mechanism to ensure a “legal guarantee” for a higher MSP, keep farmers out of the scope of the sanctions provision on stubble burning and now a mechanism to “withdraw” the electricity amendment bill. to protect the “interests of farmers”.
“Peasant organizations have once again asked the government to focus on the demands made rather than react to any imaginary demand. Discussions should take place in the sequence established in your two letters (December 26 and December 29), ”said Avik Saha, national coordinator of Jai Kisan Andolan and general secretary of the coordinating body of agricultural groups, AIKSCC.
When asked about the change in the context of the fourth lawsuit related to the Electricity Bill (Amendment) in Tuesday’s letter, Saha told TOI that the unions simply clarified the position they held for a long time.
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