Farmers ride tractors during their protest march against the new farm laws, at Kundli border in Sonipat, Saturday.
Union minister Som Prakash, who is among the government representatives negotiating with farmers protesting against 3 new farm laws, says efforts are being made to call next round of meeting with leaders of the agitation soon to end the stalemate.
After holding discussions with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the farmer agitation, Prakash told PTI, "We are trying to call a meeting early... We are discussing. The date has not been finalised."
"Ultimately, we have to resolve this issue through dialogue. There is no other way out. They (farmers) also know about it, we also know," he added.
Asserting that the government is ready for discussions anytime, Prakash, the minister of state for commerce and industries and an MP from Punjab, said the Centre is "concerned" about the protesting farmers and urged them to come to the discussion table.
Thousands of farmers, largely from Punjab, are protesting at various borders of Delhi for 16 days now, seeking a repeal of the three farm laws that they claim are "pro-corporates".
The last 6 rounds of talks between the Centre and 40 farmers' union leaders have remained inconclusive. The government has sent a draft proposal to the farmer leaders for consideration. But the farmer leaders have rejected the government's proposal and intensified their protest.
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Earlier in the day, PM Narendra Modi once again assured them that the reforms will pave the way to access new markets and avenues adding all walls and obstacles will be removed. The Prime Minister was speaking at the 93rd Annual Convention of FICCI.
"We'd seen walls between the agriculture sector and other areas associated with it — be it agriculture infrastructure, food processing, storage, or cold chain. All walls and obstacles are being removed now. After reforms, farmers will get new markets, options, and more benefits of technology," PM Modi said.
(With inputs from PTI)
