Intensifying their agitation against the Centre's new agri laws, farmers began their day-long 'relay' hunger strike on a chilly Monday morning at all sites of protest on Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Protesting farmers will participate in the hunger strike in batches and the first has 11 members, according to farmer leaders.
"Everyday 11 farmers will sit on hunger strike for 24 hours," says Balwant Singh, Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Punjab, told news agency ANI.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting against the laws for the last over four weeks at various border points of Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Centre has invited representatives of the protesting farmers for fresh talks to end the deadlock as their agitation entered its 26th day on Monday. The letter, written by Joint Secretary, Agriculture, Vivek Aggarwal to the farmers' representatives who had earlier participated in talks with the government, said, "Please provide a list of apprehensions and give appropriate dates so fresh talks can be initiated in Vigyan Bhavan so that the protest ends soon."
READ MORE: 'With folded hands...' PM Modi makes fervent appeal to farmers over farm laws; blasts opposition
In the letter, the government said that it is serious about farmers issues and had held many rounds of talks and also that it is trying to talk to farmers' unions separately and take their feedback.
The government had held five rounds of talks with the farmers' union with the last one held with Union Home Minister Amit Shah but the farmers had rejected the offers given by the government.
The farmers, on December 9, had unanimously rejected the proposed amendments suggested by the Centre to the three controversial farm laws and had sought a complete rollback of the laws.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Modi government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
READ MORE: Govt reaches out to protesting farmers again, asks them to choose date for next talks
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