Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said the Government is ready to resume talks with protesting farmers if they accept its offer to put the three contentious farm laws on hold for one-and-a-half year and work out the difference during that time through a joint committee.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Tomar said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government is making efforts to double farmers’ income and strengthen the Indian agriculture sector.
The Minister was replying to a query on Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait threatening to march on Parliament with 40 lakh tractors if laws are not repealed.
Whether the Government is making any effort to resume talks with unions, Tomar said, “The Government has been holding discussions with farmers sympathetically. Even today, whenever their response comes, the Government is always ready to hold talks.”
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, is protesting at Delhi borders for around three months, seeking repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee of the MSP.
So far, even after 11 rounds of talks, the Government and the agitating farmers’ unions have failed to reach any consensus. The last talk was held on January 22. The farmers’ leaders have continued to press for the demand that the government should repeal the three laws. They have alleged that these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the Government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.
During the 10th round of talks held on January 20, the Centre had offered to suspend the laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find solutions, in return for protesting farmers going back to their respective homes from Delhi borders.
Farmer groups have alleged that these agriculture laws will end the mandi (APMC) and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the Government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.