New Delhi: The farmer leaders will meet on Tuesday to discuss the next plan of action after the Centre issued a letter to them seeking a date for the sixth round of talks to end the ongoing strike against the farm laws and resolve all issues pertaining to the MSP.
The farmer unions are also making efforts to draw support from farmers in other states like Bihar for their demand to enact a law assuring Minimum Support Price.
Thousands of farmers from Maharashtra had left for Delhi from Nashik to join the ongoing agitation by cultivators seeking the repeal of three agri laws passed by the Centre. The farmers, who started off in private vehicles on Monday, were led by leaders of the Kisan Sabha. Before proceeding to Delhi in the afternoon, the farmers burnt effigies of Central leaders.
Agitating farmers on Monday claimed that there is nothing new in the Centre's latest offer for talks as they held a day-long 'relay' hunger strike at all protest sites on Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to press their demand for the repeal of the contentious agri laws.
The opposition too stepped up the pressure with the Shiromani Akali Dal demanding an emergency Parliament session to annul the new laws, while the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has decided to convene a special session on Wednesday to pass a resolution against the Acts.
In the letter to 40 union leaders, the Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, Vivek Aggarwal, had on Sunday asked them to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest.
The sixth round of talks, due to be held on December 9, was cancelled following a deadlock with the farmer unions refusing to budge from their demand for repealing the three laws. The farmer leaders on Monday said they are always ready for dialogue as long as the government is offering a "concrete solution"
"There is nothing new in their letter. We have already rejected the government's proposal to amend the new farm laws. In its letter, the government has asked us to discuss its proposal and convey a date to it for another round of talks. Don't they know our demand? We just want a complete repeal of the new agriculture laws," farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said.
In the letter, the Union agriculture joint secretary said the Centre is making all efforts with "an open heart" to find an appropriate solution to resolve all concerns raised by farmers.
The officer said that in its draft proposal sent on December 9, the government had proposed to make necessary amendments on at least seven issues, including providing a "written assurance" to the farmers that the existing minimum support price (MSP) system would continue.
"On this issue (government's proposal), we did not talk to them earlier. We are currently discussing how to respond to the government letter," Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points in the cold wave conditions against the new farm laws for the last 24 days. On Monday the farmers held a relay hunger strike at various protest sites in batches of 11.
"Tomorrow, there will be a Sanyukt Morcha meeting to decide how and when to respond to the government. We will evaluate the government's letter and then decide," Gurmeet Singh said.
Meanwhile, the joint forum of farmers organisations - Sanyukt Kisan Morcha - appealed to Bihar farmers to join the agitation to get the benefit of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
Morcha leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni charged in a press statement that the "maximum impact" of the disintegration of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee(APMC) has been seen in Bihar.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that the BJP-led central government, with its offer to resume the talks, is trying to create an impression that it is reasonable and the agitating farmers are wrong.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti), which is staging demonstrations at the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida, too demanded that another law be promulgated that ensures legal action against those who buy crops at rates lower than the minimum support price (MSP)
Members of the BKU (Bhanu) are also camping at the Chilla border since the first week of December. The protestors include farmers from various districts of western Uttar Pradesh like Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Firozabad. They want to move to Delhi to join the bigger stir called chiefly by farm unions of Punjab and Haryana.
Traffic movement has remained obstructed on the Noida-Delhi Link Road due to the protests. Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and Mandi systems will stay and has accused the opposition of misleading the farmers.
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