Prakash Javadekar speaks exclusively to India TV
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday spoke to India TV on the ongoing farmers's protest and said what the opposition is saying is different from the farmers' stir. "The Opposition parties are trying to influence the farm leaders, while the Centre wants to resolve the issues being faced by them, the minister said.
"I am hopeful that the farm leaders will not fall prey to such traps and will understand that the reforms have been introduced for their benefit," Javadekar said.
"The resolution to farmers' protest is only through talks," Javadekar said.
On a question on Rahul Gandhi, Javadekar said the Congress had released a manifesto wherein they had specified reforms in the farm laws.
Earlier on Wednesday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar expressed hope that ongoing deliberations with farmers, which he termed a "work in progress", over the three agriculture-related laws will yield some results soon. He said the government has held several rounds of talks with the farmers agitating against the three legislations and is keen to resolve their issues.
"When the talks and negotiations are taking place, it is considered a work in progress. There is no running commentary on any such work in progress," he told reporters at a Cabinet briefing.
"The government has discussed the concerns raised by farmers during six rounds of talks. The government is sensitive to their concerns and wants to resolve the issues raised by the farmers. This is a work in progress, (and) hopefully (it is) in the last stage," he said.
The farmers have rejected the draft in which the government proposed to give them a "written assurance" that the existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime for crop procurement will continue.
The government also proposed to make amendments on at least seven counts, including one to allay fears about the weakening of the mandi system.
The proposal, however, did not mention anything about the main demand of protesting farmers which is to repeal all the three laws.
