Centre, farmer unions to resume talks today, protesters stick to demand for repeal of laws

The Centre and farmers on Wednesday held over a 5-hour long meeting amid unions protests against the new farm laws and decided that the next meeting will take place on January 4, 2021. Addressing a press briefing, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said talks with farmers took place in a good environment and consensus on two issues was reached during their dialogue. The remaining issues will be discussed on January 4, 2021.

"Today's talks were held in a very good environment and it concluded on a positive note. Consensus on 2 out of 4 issues was reached between both sides," Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said after 6th round of talks with farmers' unions at Vigyan Bhawan.

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 the talks with the representatives of 41 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan.

The protesting farmer unions are sticking to their hardline position that the discussions will only be on the modalities of repealing the three new agriculture laws and giving a legal guarantee on the MSP among other issues.

The Centre had invited the unions for talks on December 30 on all relevant issues to find a "logical solution" with "open mind" to the prolonged impasse over the three new agri laws that were enacted in September. But in its letter on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation which represents the farmer unions, said the modalities for repealing the three contentious laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) must be part of the agenda.

The sixth round of talks was originally scheduled for December 9 but it was called off after an informal meeting of Home Minister Amit Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough.

The government had, however, followed up Shah's meeting with a draft proposal sent to these farmer unions in which it had suggested 7-8 amendments to the new laws and written assurance on the MSP procurement system. The government has ruled out a repeal of the three agri laws.

The fifth round of talks was held on December 5, while the sixth round originally scheduled for December 9 was called off after an informal meeting of Home Minister Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are currently staying put at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture. The government argues that the three farm laws will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.