Tomar voices a big no to farmer's 'Ghar wapsi when law wapsi' pact- Read full

NewsBharati    09-Jan-2021 12:05:07 PM
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New Delhi, January 09: Sticking to their key demand of the repeal of three farm laws to end their protest, the farmers in the eighth round of talks with the government naively noted that their 'ghar wapsi' from Delhi could happen only after 'law wapsi'. Centre menawhile insisted talks must be limited to contentious clauses and ruled out a complete withdrawal of Acts.
 
Not much discussions could take place at the meeting and the next date has been decided after keeping in mind a scheduled hearing of Supreme Court on January 11. As said the apex court may look into the legality of the three laws, besides other issues related to farmers' protests. At the eighth round of negotiations with the 41-member representative group of protesting farmers, the government ruled out the repeal of the laws, while asserting that these reforms have been welcomed by a large section of farmers in various states and asked the unions to think about the interests of the entire country.

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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, have been holding talks with unions at Vigyan Bhawan in the heart of the national capital, while thousands of farmers have stayed put at various Delhi borders to protest against the three laws they find pro-corporate and against the existing mandi and MSP procurement systems.
 
At the outset, Tomar appealed to unions for discussions on the laws, while farm leaders reiterated their demand that the new Acts must be withdrawn and that the agriculture minister stressed on protecting the farmers' interest of the entire country. "Ideally, the Centre should not interfere in agriculture matters as various Supreme Court orders have declared farming as a state subject. It seems you (the government) do not want to resolve the issue as talks have been happening for so many days. In that case, please give us a clear answer and we will go. Why to waste everyone's time," another farmer leader said at the meeting.
 
Before the start of the meeting, Tomar had also met senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah for about an hour. Later, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also met Shah. On January 4, the seventh round of talks ended inconclusively as the unions stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of three farm laws, while the government wanted to discuss only the "problematic" clauses or other alternatives to end the stalemate. Before that, in the sixth round of talks held on December 30 last year, some common ground was reached on two demands, decriminalisation of stubble-burning and continuation of power subsidies.
 
Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and "mandi" (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations. The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws.
 
While several opposition parties and people from other walks of life have come out in support of the farmers, some farmer groups have met the agriculture minister over the last few weeks to extend their support to the three laws. The government had sent a draft proposal to the protesting farmer unions last month, suggesting seven-eight amendments to the new laws and a written assurance on the MSP procurement system.
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