The representatives
of farmers’ union, who reached New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on Thursday to hold
talks over the contentious agriculture bill, refused the lunch offered by the
government during their meeting with three Union ministers.

The
farmer leaders preferred to eat the food brought in by a van from the Singhu
border, where thousands of their colleagues are sitting in protest against the
new farm laws.

In a visuals shared by ANI from inside the Vigyan Bhawan, the farmers can be seen queuing up to get the food sent by
their fellow protesters.

“Our
farmers’ representatives did not accept the lunch offered by the government and
we arranged it from the Singhu border,” Lok Sangarsh Morcha president
Pratibha Shinde told PTI.

“How
can we have lunch offered by the government when our fellow farmers are sitting
on roads,” said Shinde, whose organisation is among the 40 farmers’ groups
engaged in the talks.

The
video came in the backdrop of the fourth round of talks began around noon amid
ongoing protests by farmers seeking repeal of the laws.

The
meeting is taking place between Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh
Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State
for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab and farmers’ union leaders.

The
government so far has stated that the meeting started in the afternoon and
discussions are being held in a cordial atmosphere.

Meanwhile,
thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have been camping at the Singhu
and Tikri borders of Delhi for the past eight days as a part of their
demonstration against the government.

So
far, the farmers’ group had rejected Government’s suggestion to let a new committee
investigate the matter after both the parties held talks on December 1 and are reluctant on their demand to repeal the new law.

The
government on the other hand is adamantly backing the newly enacted farm laws and asked the farmers’
bodies to identify specific issues related to the newly enacted Acts and submit
those by December 2 for consideration and discussion on Thursday.