New Delhi, Jan 4 (UNI) Day 40 of farmers strike, six rounds of negotiations with the government, seventh underway, but no immediate solution in sight till now as 2021 rings in.
Striking farmers began seventh round of negotiations with the government, the first in the new year, here on Monday afternoon sticking to their demand of repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Both sides had reached an agreement at the sixth round of talks on December 30 on two demands of the striking farmers including no punishment for stubble burning and continuation of the electricity subsidy given to farmers by states for irrigation.
Both sides had welcomed the agreement but farmers maintained they would not take back their agitation unless the government withdraws the three laws which they consider hostile. However, the government says It is not possible to take back the laws and that they (the laws) are in favour of farmers and part of the agriculture reforms.
‘’The Government has been saying that MSP will continue. We are ready to give this in writing. But farmers’ unions feel MSP should get legal status,’ the Minister said.
Even as the seventh round of talks was on, braving cold and rains, thousands of farmers mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, continued protesting at the border of these states with the national capital. The farmers have warned that if any solution was not arrived at at Monday’s talks, they would hold a tractor rally and come to Delhi on January 26.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said before talks began that he was hopeful of a solution at the talks. Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash and representatives of farmers observed a two-minute silence for farmers who died during the ongoing protest.
Ahead of the meeting Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said the government must understand that farmers have taken this movement to heart and would not consider anything less than the repeal of these laws. The government should implement Swaminathan Committee report and make law on MSP, he said. Hannan Mollah, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said it was up to the government whether it wanted to solve farmers’ problems.
