Ninth round of farm talks inconclusive →P9 BILLS HAVE POTENTIAL BUT CANNOT IGNORE THOSE ADVERSELY HIT: IMF →P9

NEW DELHI: The ninth round of discussions between the Union government and farm unions protesting three agricultural laws failed to make any progress on Friday, but both sides agreed to meet again on January 19.

The unions representing tens of thousands of farmers who have launched a mass agitation on the borders of the Capital, are demanding that the government scrap three laws approved by Parliament in September.

The laws are aimed at freeing agricultural markets from government restrictions, which the farmers say will leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

Like several earlier rounds of discussions, the farm unions demanded that the government commit to complete rollback of the laws. At Friday’s talks, the government, which has ruled out a repeal of the laws, proposed that the 41-member farmers’ delegation form a “smaller group” with “people who have expertise on laws”.

“There were discussions on the three laws but we could not arrive at any decision. We suggested that the farmers form a smaller group with outside people who have expertise on the issue, but the unions rejected our suggestion,” agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. There was a discussion on Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020, said Kavitha Kuruganti, a farm leader who represents the unions at the talks.