New Delhi, Dec 1: The Farmers’ Unions on Tuesday turned down the Union government’s proposal to form a committee to address agricultural problems and expressed a resolve to continue the agitation against new farm laws.
Talks between the Centre and 35 representatives of the farmers’ unions, who are protesting on the Delhi borders against the new farm laws, was held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
The meeting between the Government and the representatives of the farmers’ unions commenced this afternoon at 1500 hrs.
After the meeting that lasted for about three-and-a-half hours, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said there was a good dialogue between the government and farmers’ unions and the talks will continue on Thursday.
He said the Government had suggested to form a committee to solve the problems of the ryots, but a consensus could not be reached on this.
The meeting was attended by Union Commerce and Industry, Railways, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal; Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash and 35 farmer leaders.
Representatives of the farmers said that if the government wants peace, then it should solve their problems, adding that they will continue their agitation.
Meanwhile, the farmers’ representatives of Maharashtra and many other states came to the national capital, to express their solidarity with the agitation.
Concerned over the ongoing protests by farmers against the new farm laws, the Centre had invited representatives of farmers’ unions to hold talks on Monday.
Tomar late last night invited the farmers’ unions to hold talks at Vigyan Bhawan, here at 1500 hrs.
In view of the cold weather and COVID-19, the talks are being held early, so that the members of the farmers’ unions do not have problem. Earlier, this meeting was scheduled on December 3.
Tomar said the government wants to solve the problem by talking to the peasants.
He said there have been two rounds of talks with farmers before also, on October 14 and November 13.
Tens of thousands of ryots remained perched at the National Capital’s border on Monday, the fourth consecutive day, as no breakthrough was achieved with the Centre over their demand of repealing the new farm laws.
The Tikri and Singhu border points of Delhi are totally blocked by the ryots, who have come mainly from Punjab and also from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The farmers’ organisation again made it clear that their demands — repealing the new laws, assuring Minimum Support Price (MSP), reading down electricity ordinance and fine on burning stubble — are “non-negotiable”.
Delhi borders with Haryana, including Singhu and Tikri, will continue to remain closed for traffic movement, amid the ongoing farmer protests.
The Delhi Traffic Police had advised the motorists on Tuesday morning to avoid these border points and take alternative routes to avoid inconvenience.
Police has also informed regarding the border points with Haryana, which will remain open for traffic movement, wherein two of them are only permitted for the movement of two-wheelers, including Badusarai and Jhatikara.