NEW
DELHI:
The talks between the farmers' unions and the Central government ended without
any breakthrough on Monday. The next meeting will take place on January 8. The
meeting started with paying tributes to the farmers who have lost their lives
during the protest.
After the meeting, the government issued a statement in which it mentioned that the Agriculture Minister said in the meeting that they are ready to consider amendments to the new farm laws.
"We will discuss pointwise on the farm laws, and on whichever laws you have objections to we are ready to consider amendments," said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
The Agriculture Minister said the government is ready to resolve the impasse and is discussing all the issues with an open mind. He said that both the sides should move forward and the government will discuss these laws with other farmers unions also.
Yudhvir Singh of the Bhartiya Kisan Union said, "The government wants to take us towards amendments but we will not accept this proposal. The Minister wanted us to discuss the laws point-wise. We rejected it and said that there is no point in discussing the laws because we want their complete rollback."
The meeting on Monday had started around 2.30 p.m. at Vigyan Bhavan in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Rail & Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash. Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal and other Ministry officials also attended the meeting.
Since the sixth round of talks held at the same location on December 30 ended on a positive note with the government agreeing on two points, the government will try to persuade the farmers to end their agitation by adopting a middle path or forming a committee to resolve the issue.
Krantikari Kisan Union president (Punjab) Darshan Pal, Bharatiya Kisan Union's Jagjeet Singh Dalewal and Balbir Singh Rajewal, Jamhuri Kishan Sabha Punjab general secretary Kulwant Singh, and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Uttar Pradesh) president Rakesh Tikait are among the 41 farm union leaders who participated in the meeting. (IANS)
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