Govt to soon hold next round of talks with farmers: Union Minister Kailash Chaudhary

Union Minister Kailash Chaudhary on Sunday said that the government will soon confirm a date to hold the next round of talks with farmers as their protests against the three farm laws intensify in and around the national capital. 

The previous five rounds of talks between representatives of 40 farmer unions and the central government have failed to bring concrete results, PTI reported. 

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The sixth round of talks was cancelled after farmer leaders rejected the government’s proposed draft to amend certain provisions in the laws. 

While the government has asserted it is ready for further discussion, farmers have said that they will only come for talks only once the laws are repealed. 

“The meeting will be called soon. We are ready for discussion. But the date has not been finalised,” Chaudhary told PTI. He said that the government will find “some solution” to end the deadlock. “We have full confidence. In the next meeting, the issue will be resolved.”

Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Agriculture, said senior ministers Amit Shah and Narendra Singh Tomar are holding discussions on the issue.

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Farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at Delhi borders against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.