Farmers Again Reject Centre’s Offer for Talks, Demand “Concrete Solution”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 21: The farmers’ unions on Monday again rejected the central government’s repeat invitation for talks to break the deadlock over their demand for repeal of the three contentious farm laws stating that there was “nothing new” in the letter.
“We are always ready for dialogue as long as the government is offering a ‘concrete solution,’ but there is nothing new in the Centre’s latest letter seeking a date for the next round of talks,” the farm leaders said.
The reference was to the letter the union agriculture department joint secretary Vivek Aggarwal wrote to the 40 farm union leaders on Sunday inviting them for another round of talks giving reference to the earlier five rounds of discussions which so far have failed to yield any result.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said the government, in its letter, mentioned that it wanted to hold talks over its earlier proposal of amendments in the new agri laws. “We are currently discussing how to respond to the government letter,” Tikait said. Other farm leaders also hinted that no progress could be made in talks unless the government showed the flexibility to repeal the laws, if necessary.
Even as the farmers remained adamant to their demand for repeal of the laws, the union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday reiterated the government’s oft-repeated stand that the new farm laws were for the benefit of the farmers and claimed with the help of the industry the government would be able to ensure doubling the farmers’ income in the next 10 years if the new laws were implemented.
Speaking at the annual general meeting of the “Tractor and Mechanization Association,” Tomar refer to the government’s emphasis on providing large advanced agricultural equipment to farmers for their field and urged the members of the association to provide small utility machines to small acreage farmers, so that 86 per cent of these farmers could acquire machines easily and double their per acerage yield.
Meanwhile, around 3000 farmers under the banner of All India Kisan Sammelan left Nashik for Delhi as part of a vehicle march. “We are going to join and support the farmers’ protest. We’ll not stop till these three laws are repealed,” their leader said. On Tuesday, 7,000 more farmers will join the procession, he said.
As Biju Janata Dal, the ruling party in Odisha and an ally of the NDA, supported the famers’ demand for Minimum Support Price, the leftist government in Kerala has convened a special session of the state Assembly on Wednesday to discuss the three farm acts. The decision to convene the special session on the laws was taken by the CPI-M led LDF government at a Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in a tweet said Kerala was in “total solidarity” with the farmers’ struggle and the session would discuss and ‘reject’ the laws.
The BJD also resolved to fight with the farmers for the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee’s report on the MSP. The party stated that inclusive development of the farmers had always been a key focus of the BJD government in the state.
“Our party is with the farmers on MSP issues and we will continue our fight for the same as per the Swaminathan Committee recommendations,” the party said in one of the resolutions passed at its state executive committee meeting that ended on Sunday evening.
As the agitating farmers continued to squat on the borders of Delhi, protesting farmers at the Ghazipur border blocked the road after the district administration didn’t turn up for a meeting over stopping the movement of tractors. “No official has come here for the meeting. We won’t move until our demands are met,” they said.
Several protesting farmers queued up at the Singhu border on Monday to register their names for a blood donation camp set up by a Ludhiana-based NGO. More than 240 protesting farmers have so far donated blood at the camp, which began on Sunday.
A farmer from Tarn Taran district of Punjab on Monday allegedly tried to kill himself at the Singhu border area of Delhi. According to sources, the 65-year-old farmer was admitted in Rohtak hospital. He had written a letter in support of protesting farmers. A police spokesperson said the farmer was currently under treatment and matter was being probed.
