Govt: Open to more revisions in farm laws
IN ITS BACKCHANNEL TALKS, THE GOVT HAS URGED UNIONS NOT TO INSIST ON REPEAL OF THE 3 FARM LAWS AS A PRECONDITION FOR DIALOGUE
NEW DELHI: The Union government hasn’t ruled out more concessions or amendments to the three farm laws and a set of recent proposals it sent out to farm unions should not be considered final, provided farmers restart negotiations and spell out their objections, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The government has worked the back channels to bring farmer groups back to the negotiating table, the person cited above added, asking not to be named.
Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the next tranche of PM-Kisan, the direct cash-transfer scheme for farmers, making payments worth ₹18,000 crore to 80 million farmers and also chat with some of them virtually on Christmas Day.
Modi released the first tranche in 2019 and will do so again at a time when thousands of farmers are protesting three agricultural laws they say will hurt their livelihoods.
“It will be a freewheeling conversation. The Prime Minister is likely to talk about the new farm laws and how they will benefit farmers,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
The Prime Minister will most likely ask farmers impromptu questions on how they have benefited from the scheme and “take a briefing from them on what they are growing and what else they want to see done for them ahead of the budget”, the official said.
Meanwhile, in its back channel talks, the government has urged farm unions not to insist on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws as a precondition for the dialogue.
The government is open to working out additional concessions but a repeal of the laws is not an option, the person said.
“The government believes that extensive safeguards for each and every apprehension can be included in the laws to put an end to all vulnerabilities of farmers through discussions. The proposals sent so far to the
farmers are not final. This is the government’s position,” the person added.
Farmer leaders on Monday said they are always ready for dialogue as long as the government is offering a “concrete solution”, but claimed that there is nothing new in the Centre’s latest letter to them seeking a date for the next round of talks.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the government, in its letter, mentioned that it wants to hold talks over its earlier proposal of amendments in the new agri laws.
“On this issue (government’s proposal), we did not talk to them earlier. We are currently discussing how to respond to the government letter,” Tikait told PTI.
The sixth round of talks on December 9 was cancelled.
In the letter to 40 union leaders, the agriculture ministry joint secretary Vivek Aggarwal on Sunday asked them to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana are protesting a set of reforms they say will hurt their livelihoods.