New Delhi: A day before the next round of talks between the Centre and the farmers protesting against the three new agri laws, Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal met senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources said the Union Ministers discussed and finalised the government’s strategy for the Wednesday meeting.
Agriculture Minister Tomar, Railway Minister Goyal and MoS Commerce and Industry Som Parkash have been representing the Centre in dialogues with the farmers.
It has been over a month now that thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, are camping at Delhi’s borders seeking repeal of the three farm laws enacted in September by the Centre. They have threatened to intensify their stir in the coming days if their demands are not fulfilled.
The government has invited 40 protesting farmer unions on December 30 for the next round of talks on all relevant issues to find a ‘logical solution’ to the current impasse over the three laws.
Also read: Farmers unions ready to attend talks, but want discussion on repeal of farm laws
The government’s invite followed a proposal made by the unions last week to hold the talks on Tuesday on agendas including modalities for the repeal of the three new farm laws.
So far, five rounds of formal talks have remained inconclusive. The last round was held December 5, while the sixth round of talks originally scheduled for December 9 was called off a day after an informal meeting of Home Minister Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough.
The government has presented these laws as major agriculture reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations have left them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and mandi systems.