The Union Government will hold the sixth round of talks with protesting farmers today.
New Delhi:
The sixth round of talks between the government and farmers to demand the repeal of the Center’s new agricultural laws will take place today at 2 pm. The government expects a breakthrough to resolve the protests that have been raging on the Delhi borders since late November. But with both sides taking a hard line, farmers are unsure of a resolution anytime soon.
“There have been five rounds of talks between farmers and the government. We do not think we will reach a solution even today. All three agricultural laws should be repealed,” Sukhwinder Singh Sabra of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said, quoted as saying. by ANI news agency.
Union Minister Som Prakash, who has been part of the government’s three-member team for negotiations with farmers, said: “Today’s meeting with farmers will be decisive.”
“We want them to celebrate the New Year in their homes, with their family, and we go to the meeting with open hearts and minds. The government will try to solve the problem so that people can go back to their homes,” Prakash said. He was quoted by the ANI news agency.
“We will discuss all issues, including the Minimum Support Price. I can say that we are open to talks with an open heart. They should also do so with an open mind. The turmoil will definitely end if they do,” the minister added.
Farmers have reiterated that they will accept nothing less than a repeal of controversial farm laws, which they say leaves them open to exploitation by companies. They have rejected the government’s offer to amend the laws, a stance that prompted bitter complaints from the Center to the Supreme Court.
“The government was and is ready for negotiations,” the Center told the high court earlier this month when it heard a series of petitions about the protest. “The difficulty is the farmers’ ‘yes or no’ approach. Different ministers spoke with them, but they turned their chairs and did not speak,” the Center had said.
The court ordered a special committee to be formed, insisting that the Center’s negotiations had failed. “Their negotiation will fail again because they will not agree,” the court had said, seeking names or organizations of farmers to participate in the matter.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, who will be part of today’s meeting along with his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal, had previously said that the government hoped to end the stalemate before the end of the year. The two ministers met with the Union Interior Minister AmIt Shah on Wednesday when today’s meeting was announced.
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