Farm talks inconclusive; next meeting on Dec 9

NEW DELHI: The fifth round of talks between farmers’ representative and the Union government on Saturday were inconclusive, with the Centre conveying to the protesters that their concerns were being looked into while leaders of the other side stuck to their demand that the three new agriculture laws be repealed.

The farmers, however, agreed to hold another round of discussions on December 9.

At the nearly five-hour meeting in Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan, the government’s side – led by agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and railways minister Piyush Gotal – convinced the farmers’ outfits not to walk out while they remained adamant that they won’t accept anything less than a revocation of the new laws that were rushed through in Parliament in September.

According to news agency

Farmers protest at a road block on the Delhi-Haryana border crossing in Singhu.

PTI, hours after talks began at 2:30pm, farmers decided to keep a “maun vrat” [silent protest] and asked the government officials to only answer in a “yes” or “no” to their demand on repealing the laws. The Centre also submitted a written proposal to the farmers at the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting came

shortly after defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar convened at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to discuss the issue.

The talks also come a day after farmers called for a nationwide agitation on Decem