Farmers again reject govt’s offer of amending laws, want them repealed
AMN / NEW DELHI
The ninth round of talks between farmers’ union and the government failed to achieve any success as former stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the three contentious farm laws
Three central ministers — Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Prakash were in the talks.
Tomar, who asked unions to be more flexible in approach, also told them that they should form “formal and informal groups and discuss the laws to prepare concrete proposals for discussions in the next meeting”.
He said the government is hopeful of discussions reaching a decisive stage in the tenth round on January 19.
Apparently, at one point during the five-hour plus meeting today, Tomar also asked unions when exactly the agitation will be called off and what will it take? Tomar wanted to know if unions will withdraw the protests if one of the two main demands (that is, either MSP guarantee or repeal of the three laws) is met.
Speaking to the media after the talks, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, no conclusive decision was taken in the meeting and the next round of talks will be held on the 19th of January.
Saying that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere, Mr Tomar hoped that a consensus would be arrived at soon. He added that the government suggested to farmer unions to form informal groups to finalise concrete proposals that can be discussed further at formal talks.
He also expressed concern at the farmers protesting in the cold conditions. Mr Tomar said, all the three farm legislations were discussed in detail.
The Minister added that the Centre has identified the concerns of the farmers and is trying to allay these concerns. Replying to a query, the Minister said, Centre will present its side before the Committee constituted by the Supreme Court when asked.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday had stayed the implementation of three farm laws till further orders. It had also announced the formation of a committee to hear the grievances of the farmers and the opinion of the government.
Bhartiya Kisan Union President Bhupinder Singh Mann, Shetkari Sanghatana, Maharashtra President Anil Ghanwat, International Food Policy Research Institute’s Pramod Kumar Joshi and Agriculture Economist Ashok Gulati were appointed on the panel. Yesterday Mr Mann recused himself from the four-member committee.
In their first meeting with the Centre after the Supreme Court appointed a committee to resolve the deadlock over the three contentious farm laws, the protesting farmer unions stuck to their main demand for a complete repeal of the laws even as the government asked them to be more flexible in their approach and expressed its willingness for necessary amendments.
This was the ninth meeting between the two parties since December last year. 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, held talks with the representatives of around 40 farmer unions for over five hours. The two sides will meet again on January 19 at 12 pm.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at various border points of Delhi for nearly two months now against the three farm laws. They fear that these legislations will lead to the weakening of the minimum support price (MSP) system. The three contentious laws are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.
The apex court had on January 12 stayed the implementation of the three central laws till further orders and announced the formation of a committee to hear the grievances of the farmers and the opinion of the government.
Despite their talks with the Centre not yielding significant results, the farmer unions said they were committed to continuing direct talks with the government to resolve the issue, even as a committee has been formed by the Supreme Court to resolve the deadlock. “Our demands of repealing of the three farm laws and MSP guarantee remain. We will not go to the committee constituted by the Supreme Court. We will talk to the central government only,” ANI quoted Rakesh Tikait, BKU spokesperson, as saying.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tomar said detailed discussions took place at the talks but they could not reach a decisive stage. “Talks took place over three farm laws in a cordial atmosphere and detailed discussions took place on some issues, but couldn’t reach a decisive stage,” he said.
“We suggested they can form an informal group of people who can understand the laws better and prepare some concrete proposals, detailing what are farmers’ expectations and what clauses are problematic for them, which the government can consider with an open mind,” the minister said.
Despite the deadlock, the minister said he was hopeful of discussions reaching some decisive stage at the tenth round of talks on January 19.