New Delhi: Talks With Centre Yield No Breakthrough; Next Meeting On Sunday

NEW DELHI: The third meeting between Union Ministers and farmer leaders ended without reaching an agreement, leading to the scheduling of another round of talks on Sunday.

After the meeting concluded, Union Minister Arjun Munda shared that the third discussion with the leaders of the protesting farmers was positive.

''Today, a very positive discussion happened between the government and the farmers' unions. Focusing on the topics highlighted by the farmers' union, we have decided that the next meeting will take place on Sunday at 6 pm... We all will find a solution peacefully...," ANI quoted Munda as saying.

The third round of talks between the Union Ministers and the 14 farmer union leaders lasted for around five hours.

In the meeting, the central government was represented by Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda, along with Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was also present in this meeting.

Notably, previous talks with the farm organizations' representatives turned out to be unsuccessful, prompting the farmers to organize the 'Delhi Chalo' march.

The first meeting between the farmer leaders and the Union Government took place on February 8, and the second conducted on February 12.

Meanwhile, the protesting farmers have put forward 12 demands to the Central Government, including the enactment of a law ensuring MSP for all crops, a complete debt waiver, and a pension scheme for farmers and farm labourers.

Apart from these, the protesting farmers are also demanding for the repeal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and the re-introduction of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, among other demands.

Moreover, the farmers are seeking justice for the Lakhimpur Kheri killings and improvements in employment opportunities and wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

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