Before the resumption of talks with the Center on Wednesday, farmers’ unions, protesting outside Delhi against the new farm laws, wrote to the government saying that the discussion can only be on a four-point agenda that includes modalities to repeal laws and provide a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.
In a letter addressed to Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer Welfare, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, representing 40 farmers unions, listed the other two items on the agenda as amendments to the ‘Commission Ordinance for Air Quality Management in the Capital Region and neighboring regions, 2020 ‘, and the procedure for the withdrawal of the draft Electricity Reform Law 2020.
Formally accepting the government’s invitation to the talks, La Morcha said: “It is necessary to conduct our discussion in accordance with this agenda to find a rational solution to the relevant issues.”
Surjit Singh Phool from BKU (Krantikari) said that the meeting agenda that they had sent to the government was very clear. “In the letter he sent us, the government recognized our agenda, but did not specifically mention the repeal of the laws. Your letter lacks clarity, but we believe that your act of asking us for the agenda was a welcome step. Now, we expect something new from them, something that is in the direction of finding the best way to repeal the laws, “he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the exclusive freight corridor via video conferencing. (PTI)
While the 40 leaders invited by the government will attend the talks, only five leaders, Phool said, will present the views of farmers. Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of BKU (Dakaunda), said farmers postponed their tractor march, scheduled for Wednesday, to Thursday.
“If the talks are fruitful, there will be no need for this march and we will spend the New Year with our families. We are at the table to discuss issues. That is what the Supreme Court also wanted, ”he said.
While the 40 leaders invited by the government will attend the talks, only five leaders, Phool said, will present the views of farmers.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to attacks on infrastructure during demonstrations and movements, said that this amounts to harming the country, its “poor and ordinary people.” In exercising democratic rights, he said, “we must never forget our obligation to the nation.”
Opening the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section and operations control center of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Prime Minister said that dedicated freight corridors will allow agricultural products to reach destinations faster and benefit everyone from the industry to business, from farmers to consumers.
In a speech via video link, Modi said: “Our past experience tells us that the development of the country’s infrastructure should stay away from politics. The country’s infrastructure is the path of its development, not the path of a party’s ideology. It is a mission to benefit many future generations, not five years of politics. If political parties have to compete, there should be competition in the quality of infrastructure, competition in speed and scale ”.
“I find it necessary to mention another mentality here, one that we often see during demonstrations and movements. The mentality that damages the infrastructure of the nation, its property. We must remember that this infrastructure does not belong to a leader, party or government. It is national property. It has been built with the sweat of the poor, the taxpayers, the middle class, all sectors of society. Any harm to him is harm to ordinary and poor people. As we exercise our democratic rights, we must never forget our obligation to the nation. “
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to attacks on infrastructure during demonstrations and movements, said that this amounts to damaging the country, its “poor and common people.”
By stating that “when the first freight train passed today in the Khurja-Bhau section of the freight corridor, the echo and roar of a New India, Atmanirbhar Bharat could be heard,” the Prime Minister attacked the former UPA government. for the “Delay” in the implementation of the freight corridor project.
“This delayed project is a living example of the government’s work culture before 2014. This project was approved in 2006, but it was being built only on paper and files. The seriousness with which the Center should have discussed with the States, the urgency with which the talks should have been held, never happened. The result was that the job got stuck. “
“Until 2014, not a single kilometer of the project was laid and the sanctioned funds could not be properly spent. After 2014, it was restarted and the authorities asked that it be carried forward, ”he said. “I personally monitored it in Pragati (platform for proactive governance and timely implementation), consulted the stakeholders associated with this, studied the project … As a result of this, a total of around 1100 km will be completed in the next months. Imagine, not a kilometer in eight years, and now 1,100 kilometers in six or seven years, ”he said.
Farmers pray during a protest meeting against the new agricultural laws on the Delhi-Haryana state border, outside New Delhi. (AP)
The new freight corridor, he said, will be a boost for eastern India, which has lagged behind in the industrial sector. He said that about 60 percent of the corridor falls in Uttar Pradesh. It will attract industries to UP, and Kisan Rail would also benefit from this dedicated freight corridor. He said that farmers, who can send their products by rail to large markets across the country, safely and at a low price, can now send them faster through this corridor.
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