Ministers, farm outfits hold 6th round of talks

UNION MINISTERS PROPOSE TO FORM A COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS THE THREE NEW AGRI LEGISLATIONS

NEW DELHI: Three Union ministers holding their sixth round of talks with protesting farm leaders on Wednesday rejected the demand to repeal the three agricultural laws, but proposed to set up a committee to examine the new legislations cultivators say will hurt their livelihoods.

Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Prakash also discussed the possibility of a law on guaranteeing minimum prices for farm prices, said a senior farmers’ representative present in the talks.

The ministers shared meals with farmers during a lunch break after the first round of talks, presenting a picture of bonhomie amid the tough negotiations.

In the first round of talks earlier in the day, which was followed by a lunch break, the farmers raised their core issue of scrapping three recent proreform laws.

Among their clutch of demands, farmers have also demanded a law to make federally fixed minimum prices, known as minimum support prices.

“The ministers didn’t say anything on this but said they wanted to discuss the demand for a law on MSP,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the leader of a faction of Bharatiya Kisan

Union.

In the second round of talks during the day, which were ongoing at the time of filing this report, the government said a committee could be formed to scrutinise the three laws.

A government official also explained the pros and cons of a law on MSP. The government argued that a law making MSP compulsory for even private traders, essentially prohibiting sale of any farm produce below state-set prices, could spark chaos in markets.

Tomar said private traders may not buy at MSP rates if doing so wouldn’t be profitable for them.

Further discussions are on. The three farm laws passed in September essentially change the way India’s farmers do business by creating free markets, as opposed to a network of decades-old, government marketplaces, allowing traders to stockpile essential commodities for future sales and laying down a national framework for contract farming.

Together, the laws will allow big corporations and global supermarket chains to buy directly from farmers, bypassing decades-old regulations.

Farmers say the reforms will enable large corporations to dictate prices and exploit them.

Earlier in the day, government officials said they hoped it would be a decisive meeting and the protesting farmers would return from Delhi’s borders to their respective homes to celebrate the New Year.

Farmer leaders, however, insisted they are prepared to continue their agitation till the government agrees to their demands.

The official said railway minister Goyal and Tomar held two meetings with Union home minister Amit Shah before heading to the meeting’s venue.

Some union leaders said on Wednesday that farmers in some parts of the country were being forced to sell crops including paddy below the MSP as market rates have fallen and asserted that the demonstrations will continue till the Union government agrees to their demands. “After new farm laws were implemented in Uttar Pradesh, prices of crops have fallen by 50%. Crops are being bought at below MSP. Paddy is being sold at Rs 800 per quintal. We will raise these issues in the meeting,” Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters before entering the meeting venue. “We will not leave Delhi till our demands are met. We will celebrate New year at borders,” he said.