Farmers Movement Archive

Govt prepares talks table as farmers storm Capital

NEW DELHI: With farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march reaching the Capital, the Centre on Friday sought to give them passage into the city while appealing to farm leaders to suspend their agitation and attend talks scheduled on December 3. “The government has always been ready to discuss all issues with farmers. We can find out ways only through discussions. We have invited farm organisations for another round of talks on December 3,” agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. Two rounds of discussions with Punjab Union were earlier convened by the ministry besides other interactions involving defence minister Rajnath Singh with a different group. The decision to offer passage and earmarking a place for them at Burari is considered an attempt to create a conducive atmosphere ahead of talks on December 3. Though the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march was planned for only two days, the agitation will now continue from Nirankari ground in Burari. “As far as reforms (in the farm sector) are concerned, new laws were the need of the hour. These laws will bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers in the coming days. There have been certain apprehensions in the mind of farmers of Punjab about the new laws. The government is, however, ready to discuss it with them,” Tomar said while appealing to farmers to give up or at least suspend the agitation. The minister had earlier held a discussion with Punjab farmers on November 13. Though the meeting was held for over seven hours in a cordial atmosphere, it did not yield any result as neither the government nor the farm leaders altered their respective positions. While farmers have been demanding legal guarantee to the procurement of crops at minimum support price (MSP) and repeal of the three newly enacted central farm laws, the Centre has consistently held a position that the new laws will eventually help the farmers by giving them more options to sell their produce and get a better price. The government even sought to clarify it time and again that the MSP will continue and there should not be any apprehensions about its discontinuation in the minds of farmers. Tomar’s appeal to farmers come after the farm groups under Coordination Committee of the ‘Samyukt Kisan Morcha’ on Friday morning wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking discussion on their demands with farmers’ representatives from across the country without limiting the exercise with farmers’ Union of Punjab. The groups said the Centre should at least stop its confrontationist attitude of denying the largest section of society an opportunity to be heard. They said the Centre should initiate sincere dialogue otherwise it will become meaningless for the government to offer talks and not create a conducive atmosphere for such talks to happen. Besides demanding the repeal of three central farm laws, the farmers’ organizations have also called for withdrawal of the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 which seeks to end direct subsidies. Under the proposed law, all consumers, including farmers, will have to pay the tariff, and the subsidy will be sent to them through direct benefit transfer (DBT). “The Centre will try to discuss the issue again with farmers’ representatives of Punjab on December 3, explaining to them how the procurement at MSP has consistently been increasing and how the new laws will ultimately help the farmers,” said an official.

The Times of India

2020-11-28

India