The sixth round of talks that started today between the Centre and protesting farmers is going to be “decisive”, according to Union Minister Som Prakash who forms a part of the 3-member team representing the government in the ongoing dispute.
Farmers’ groups said they will be mentioning the dozens of frauds done to them in Madhya Pradesh by corporate companies following the implantation of the farm laws. They say, business houses made promises of buying their crops, which they never did, ultimately abandoning several farmers in Hoshangabad and Guna.
With the protests becoming a month old on 26th December, the Centre is adamant to find ways to reach a midpoint in its resolution with the opposite party.
Prior to the meeting, Mr. Prakash said that the government is hoping the farmers “celebrate New Year at their homes”. He was quoted saying, “We will discuss every issue including Minimum Support Price. I can say that we are open to talks with an open heart. They too should come with an open mind. The agitation will definitely end if they do that.”
Meanwhile, farmers said that they will highlight the frauds done against them by major companies after the enactment of the laws in Madhya Pradesh.
Baldev Singh Sirsa, a farmer leader from Punjab said, “Ever since new agrarian reform laws have been enacted, the incidence of cheating with farmers has increased. Merchants have opened offices in villages, bought crops from farmers, and then ran away… They have not paid the farmers their crop amount.”
NDTV reported Maharashtra leader Sandeep Gidde Patil saying that a corporate had handed over a cheque worth Rs. 2 crores to 22 farmers from whom he bought crops. However, the cheque bounced and when the farmers reached the local police station to inform them of the con, they were instructed to head to the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to file the complaint.
Close to 200 cases of such kind, from all over the country, are going to become a part of their talks with the Centre, the farmer leaders added.
“Five rounds of talks between farmers and the government have taken place. We don’t think we will reach a solution even today. The three farm laws should be repealed,” Sukhwinder Singh Sabra of Punjab’s Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said.
The farmers have remained firm on their stance that they won’t be entertaining anything less than the scrapping of the 3 laws, despite offers from the government to amend them. This reiteration led to the Centre’s sour comments to the Supreme Court against the farmers.
“The government was and is ready for negotiations,” the Centre said in early December, “The difficulty is the farmers’ ‘yes or no’ approach. Different ministers talked to them, but they turned their chairs back and did not talk.”
The top court directed the formation of a special committee as the offers from the Centre have consistently failed and not accepted by the farmers. “Your negotiation will again fail as they won’t agree,” the court had said.
Along with Som Prakash, Agriculture minister Narendra Tomar and cabinet minister Piyush Goyal will be listening to the woes of the farmers to arrive at a solution that contents both parties. Mr. Tomar had also previously said that the Centre was aiming to mark a closure to the issue before the start of 2021.
The farmer’s protest began on 26th November 2020 with the 24-hour strike on the Delhi borders. Around 150-300 thousand farmers were present on the protesting field during the period from November 28th to December 3rd.
