The first round of talks between the Centre and the farmers protesting against the new farm laws concluded on Tuesday, 1 December with the next round to be held on 3 December, ANI reported.
Several farmers’ unions held discussions with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Union minister Piyus Goyal at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan amid ongoing protests in the national capital.
During the discussion, the government suggested that a committee comprising representatives of unions, agricultural experts and government representatives be formed.
“You give names of 4-5 people from your organisations and constitute a committee in which there’ll be representatives from the government as well as agricultural experts to discuss new agricultural laws,” the Centre said, as reported by ANI.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, according to ANI, also informed that during their interaction with the farmers, the Government suggested to the representatives of farmer unions to “identify specific issues related to Farm Reform Acts and share with Government on 2 December for consideration.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were not present for the discussions, as was expected by many.
Agitation Will Continue, Say Farmers as Tomar Calls Meeting ‘Good’
After the meeting, the farmers’ bodies said that they are willing to wrestle the government and will return for more talks.
“Our movement will continue and they will definitely take back something from the government, be it bullets or peaceful solution. We will come for more discussions again with them,” Chanda Singh, Member of Farmers’ Delegation, was quoted by ANI as saying after the meeting.
“Today's meeting was good and some progress was made. During our next meet on 3 December, we will convince them that no clause of farm law is pro-farmer. Our agitation will continue,” Prem Singh Bhangoor, President, All India Kisan Federation told ANI.
Meanwhile, Tomar said that the meeting was ‘good’ and appealed to suspend the protests.
“The meeting was good and we have decided that more discussions will be held on 3 December. We wanted a small group to be constituted but farmers’ leaders wanted that the talks should be held with everyone. We do not have problem with it,” Tomar told ANI.
“We appeal to the farmers to suspend the protests and come for the talks. However, this decision depends on farmers' unions and farmers,” he added.
‘Want Talks With Everyone’: Farmers
Naresh Tikait, president of the Bharat Kisan Union (BKU) which is protesting at the Delhi-UP border, had earlier said that the Union wants a final decision to be taken only after speaking to all the delegations.
Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal had earlier written to the representatives of 32 farmer unions, including the Krantikari Kisan Union, Jammu Hari Kisan Sabha, Bhartiya Kisan Sabha (Dakauda), Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, Kriti Kisan Union and Punjab Kisan Union, inviting them for discussion on Tuesday, PTI had reported.
Sukhvinder Sabhran, Joint Secretary of Punjab Kisan Sangharsh Committee in Delhi, had earlier told ANI that the government has invited only 32 farmer groups for the discussion out of 500 groups in the country. “We won't be going for talks till all groups are called,” Sabhran was quoted as saying by ANI.
Talks Preponed
The talks that were scheduled to happen on 3 December were preponed taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation and winters, Tomar had said earlier.
“We decided to conduct the next round of talks on 3 December, but the farmers continued their protests and with the COVID-19 situation and winters, we decided that the talks should be held earlier,” ANI quoted Tomar as saying.
Tomar also stated that the farmers have misunderstood the newly enacted three laws, and hence the government is ready to talk with the Kisan Unions, who were present in the first round of meeting with the Centre.
Amit Shah’s Conditional Offer; PM’s Attack on Oppn
Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, 27 November, said, “The government is ready to deliberate on every problem and demand of the farmers.”
He said, “If farmers’ unions want to hold discussions before 3 December, then I want to assure you all that as soon as you shift your protest to the designated place, the government will hold talks to address your concerns the very next day.”
However, the farmers had rejected the offer to move to Burari, calling it an ‘open jail.’
Blaming the Opposition for the farmer protests during his visit to Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the new farm laws will empower farmers and give them legal protection and blamed the Opposition for rumour-mongering and misleading the farmers.
PM Modi further blamed the previous governments for allegedly not fulfilling the promises made to the farmers.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana are protesting the Centre’s farm laws at the borders of Delhi for the last few days, weathering tear gas and water cannons, amid the cold and the pandemic.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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