The ninth round of talks between the farmers and the Centre came to an end today and had a similar fate as the other 8- no resolution was found.
The meeting was held days after the apex court put a hold on the farm laws while also forming a committee that will look into the matter. However, the offer has been half rejected, half accepted by the farmers as the committee formed by the SC consist of members who all pro-farm laws.
Speaking about the deadlock, Dr. Darshanpal said, “It was a 120 percent failure. We suggested that the government remove the changes made to the Essential Commodities Act instead of scrapping it altogether. But the Agriculture Minister has not said anything on this.”
The 10th round of talks is scheduled to be organized on January 19th. The same day, the top court formed team is expected to begin discussing with stakeholders to put an end to the issue that is blazing since November 26th, forcing farmers to spend their days on the roads in the chilly winters of Delhi.
The Tractor rally event that was announced by the farmers earlier is seeing no change of plans as the agriculturists will be pressing the government further to repeal the farm laws. It will be witnessed on Republic Day, January 26th. Dr. Darshanpal said, “Our proposed Tractor rally will be held, will be held, will be held.”
As no direct communication from the Centre was seeing the light of the day when it came to the talks, farmers said that they do not want any “brokers”.
While the Centre has agreed to this demand, it said that the farmers may also reach to the court-appointed committee for help.
“The government and farmers should continue looking for solutions, formally and informally. Whatever we can agree on during these talks will decide the future course of action. The government is committed to following the Supreme Court’s order,” Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.
Continuation of negotiations between the government and farmers may direct towards the likelihood of a resolution coming in from 2 different entities- the second being the committee.
Friday’s round of talks saw farmers bringing the incidences of raids on the houses of those supporting the farmers logistically along with the implementation of the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against such people.
Though the government had blamed this on the state government previously, this time it said that it will look into the matter.
On the other hand, Narendra Modi is also getting demanded to join the resolution talks that is currently being headed by 3 ministers- Agriculture Minister, Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash who is also an MP from Punjab, and Food Minister Piyush Goyal.
Stating that “no solution was in sight”, the Supreme Court had issued a stay order on the three contentious farm laws on January 12.
