Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 15: As the ninth round of talks between the protesting farmers and the central government ended on Friday without ending the impasse, the union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar hoped that the two sides would be able to reach a “decisive stage” during the next round of talks on January 19.
Tomar said he had urged the farmer unions to form an informal group among themselves to prepare concrete proposals to be discussed in the next meeting. “Detailed discussions took place at the ninth round of talks but could not reach a decisive stage,” he said.
The two sides, therefore, decided to meet again on January 19 at 12 p.m., Tomar told reporters after the end of the meeting on Friday that lasted for nearly five hours.
Besides Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, held talks with the representatives of around 40 farmer unions.
This was the first meeting after the Supreme Court appointed a committee to resolve the deadlock over farm laws.
“Talks took place over three farm laws in a cordial atmosphere and detailed discussions took place on some issues, but couldn’t reach a decisive stage,” Tomar said.
“We suggested they can form an informal group of people who can understand the laws better and prepare some concrete proposals, detailing what are farmers’ expectations and what clauses are problematic for them, which the government can consider with an open mind,” the minister said.
He further said the government was hopeful of discussions reaching some “decisive stage” at the tenth round of talks on January 19.
On the Supreme Court appointed panel, Tomar said both the farmers unions and the government were “fully committed to the apex court and the government will also present its side before the committee panel when invited.”
“Unions want to continue the dialogue with the government and we have no problem with that. The SC-appointed panel will also work for the welfare of farmers,” he said.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union, however, reiterated that the farmers would not appear before the apex court appointed committee and would prefer to hold dialogues with the government. The BKU spokesman Rakesh Tikait said, “Our demands of repealing of the three farm laws & MSP guarantee remain. We will not go to the Committee constituted by the Supreme Court. We’ll talk to Central Government only.”
Tomar said solution could emerge from the government-farmers talks as well as from the SC-appointed panel’s deliberations.
“Our effort is to resolve the issue through dialogue and we want the protest to end at the earliest given the adverse weather conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” he said.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is scheduled to hear the farmers’ protests case on Monday. The case list on January 18 shows the court is to pass orders/directions on a plea by the government to injunct protesters from holding tractor/trolley/vehicle marches to “disrupt” the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
There is also a change in the composition of judges on the Bench sitting on Monday. The Bench, though still headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, would have Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran as other members of the three-judge bench. he Bench, on January 12, when it had stayed the implementation of the three farm laws and formed the committee, had Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian accompanying the CJI.
Meanwhile, a number of Congress leaders were detained at various state and district headquarters while participating in the party’s “Kisan Adhikar Divas” observed on Friday. The party’s former president Rahul Gandhi asked the partymen to join in large numbers in Farmers’ “Satyagraha.” Gandhi, who was in Delhi, said the three farm laws have been brought to “finish the farmers”. “If we don’t stop this now, it will continue to happen in other sectors too”