Govt’s meeting with farmers inconclusive
Farm leaders reject Centre’s offers to set up committee to look into issues with farm laws, next meeting on December 3
NEW DELHI: The meeting called by the central government with representatives of various farm organisation on Tuesday remained inconclusive with farm leaders rejecting the former’s proposal to set up a committee to look into the recently enacted laws aimed at liberalising the sector, and insisted that the contentious laws be repealed, officials aware of the developments said.
At the nearly three-hour-long meeting with leaders of 35 agitating organisations at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, which was attended by Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, railways and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state for commerce Som Parkash, also an MP from Punjab, the Centre stuck to its stand to set up a five-member panel to look into the issues raised by the farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders to further consider the proposal. However, all the farmer leaders were unanimous in seeking repeal of the three laws passed by Parliament in September, the officials cited above said.
After the meeting, Bharat Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said it remained inconclusive and the government has called for another meeting on December 3.
“The farmer’s organisations rejected the government’s proposal to form a five-member committee to look into the issues related to the new farm laws,” said Roopsingh Sanha, member of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), one of the largest blocks of farmers who have been protesting against the new laws.
However, another round of meeting got underway later in the evening at the agriculture ministry with representatives of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the officials said. BKU leader Naresh Tikait also said another delegation of farmer leaders was meeting the government at 7 pm.
He said issues other than the recently enacted farm laws are also likely to be discussed, and mentioned power tariffs for farmers among the probable talking points. The meeting was expected to be attended by representatives from Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, Tikait said.
A large section of farmers has demanded the repeal of the three laws enacted by Parliament in September, which, together, allow agribusinesses to freely trade farm produce without restrictions, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and lay down new rules for contract farming. Farmers say the reforms will make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporations, erode their bargaining power, weaken the government’s MSP system, and will eventually be detrimental to the farm sector, which supports nearly half the population. The government has sought to allay the concerns, saying that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
Hours before the meeting, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Tomar and Goyal, along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda, had held marathon discussions over the farmers’ protest.
Opposition parties too stepped up the pressure, asking the Centre to “respect the democratic struggle” of the farmers and repeal the laws. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the government to wake up and shed “arrogance” to provide protesting farmers their rights.
An earlier meeting on November 13 had also failed to give any breakthrough and the next one was originally scheduled for December 3, but it got advanced due to the ongoing protests on Delhi borders.
Meanwhile, Delhi border points remained under heavy police deployment, with concrete barriers and multilayered barricades in place as protesting farmers continued their agitation for the sixth consecutive day. Thousands of farmers have been staging protests at Tigri and Singhu borders but the situation remained peaceful.
Cemented barriers and multilayered barricades have also been put up besides heavy security personnel at Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh where many farmers have been protesting since Saturday, a senior police officer said. Images showed municipal corporation staff fumigating the road leading to the Capital in an attempt to stop farmers from marching to Delhi.
“Delhi Police has strengthened its presence at various border points in the wake of the farmer’s protest. All internal and outside forces have been mobilised to the maximum,” another senior police officer said.
Hundreds of farmers also gathered at the Noida and Delhi border, stopping traffic movement on a key route connecting Uttar Pradesh with the national capital, a third official said. The farmers remained at the Chilla border where police have been deployed on both the Delhi as well as Noida side in huge numbers, prohibiting the protestors from proceeding towards the Capital. As a preventative measure, the security deployment has also been enhanced on the Delhi Gurugram border.