Govt-farmer talks inconclusive again
Unions allege Centre avoiding talks on MSP raise farmers getting NIA summons issue
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday offered to amend the three contentious farm laws at their 10th round of talks with protesting unions but farmer leaders stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the Acts and alleged that the Centre was avoiding discussion on a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).
Farmer leaders said there was no breakthrough in the talks as both sides were stuck on their stated positions visa-vis the three farm laws and there was little hope of any outcome other than fixing the date for the 11th round.
Farmer leaders also raised the issue of National Investigation Agency (NIA) notices being served to some farmers, to which the government representatives said they will look into the matter.
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday offered to amend the three contentious farm laws at their 10th round of talks with protesting unions but farmer leaders stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the Acts and alleged that the Centre was avoiding discussion on a legal guarantee for MSP.
Farmer leaders said there was no breakthrough in the first session as both sides were stuck on their stated positions vis-a-vis the three farm laws and there was little hope of any outcome other than fixing the date for the 11th round.
Farmer leaders also raised the issue of NIA notices being served to some farmers, alleging it was being done just to harass those supporting the agitation, to which the government representatives said they will look into the matter.
As the two sides took a break, where farmer leaders had langar food, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Yudhvir Singh told PTI, “The stalemate is continuing over the three laws and I don’t think any solution will emerge from today’s meeting. Both sides are adamant on their position.” He said the government is insisting on first discussing the three laws and wants to take up the MSP (Minimum Support Price) matter later. “We will insist on a discussion on MSP after the tea break and also try to seek the next date for meeting before January 26,” Singh said.
Another farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said, “The government is not ready to repeal the three laws and farmers are not ready for amendments. The government doesn’t want to discuss MSP.” “No solution will emerge from today’s meeting. We will meet again on the next date,” he said.
Tikait also said the union leaders raised the NIA (National Investigation Agency) issue in the meeting, to which the ministers said they will look into it.
The meeting began at around 2.45 pm with the three ministers greeting farmer leaders on the occasion of Gurupurab.
“The government offered to carry out some amendments, but farmer leaders maintained they do not want anything less than a complete repeal of the laws,” Tikait said.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding the talks with the representatives of around 40 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan here.
Before the meeting, the three ministers also met senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The tenth round of talks was initially scheduled on January 19, but later got postponed to Wednesday.
In the last round of talks, the government had asked protesting farmers to prepare a concrete proposal about their objections and suggestions on the three farm laws for further discussion at their next meeting to end the long-running protest. But, unions stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three Acts.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws. Farmer groups have alleged these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.On January 11, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.
Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann had recused himself from the committee appointed by the apex court.