New Delhi: The eighth round of talks between protesting farmer unions and three central ministers got underway here Friday afternoon. The laks are on to break the over-a-month-long deadlock on recent farm laws. The farmer unions have wanted repeal of the farm laws.
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.
The seventh round of talks January 4 ended inconclusively as the unions stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of three farm laws. The government wanted to discuss only the ‘problematic’ clauses or other alternatives to end the stalemate.
Before that, in the sixth round of talks held December 30 last year, some common ground was reached on two demands. They were decriminalisation of stubble-burning and continuation of power subsidies.
Also read: 7th round of talks fail to break government-farmer unions deadlock, next meeting January 8
Earlier, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhury hoped that a resolution will come out of Friday’s meeting. “I am hopeful that a resolution will be reached at Friday’s meeting. We could have ended the deadlock by now had the protesting farmer unions discussed the issues raised at the first meeting,” he said.
Just before the meeting, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) member Kavitha Kuruganti said: “If no solution arrived in today’s meeting, we will continue with our plan of tractor rally January 26. Our main demand is repeal of the laws. We will not accept any amendments. Government is taking it as a prestige issue and not taking back the laws. But this is a life and death question for all farmers.”
Earlier before the meeting started Tomar met senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah. The meeting continued for about an hour, they said, but what issues came up for discussion in the meeting could not be ascertained.