Government- farmers talks remain inconclusive, deadlock continues; next meeting on Jan 19
The farmers have been camping at the Delhi borders for several weeks and are demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price for crops.
FollowNew Delhi: The ninth round of talks between the central government and farmer unions over the farm laws again failed to break the deadlock as the two sides could not reach common ground on the issues of repeal of the laws and the MSP Act. The next meeting will take place on January 19 at 12 pm.
Three central ministers, including Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash and farmers unions on Friday held talks at Vigyan Bhawan to resolve the over-one-month-long deadlock over three agri laws.
The meeting on Friday discussed three agricultural laws before the lunch break and the MSP Guarantee Act after the break.
Farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said told reporters after the meeting that the unions urged the government to repeal the three laws, but the Centre was unwilling to do so.
"We decided to meet again on January 19 at 12 pm," he said.
At the meeting that lasted for nearly five hours, including a lunch break, farmers unions said they are committed to continuing holding direct talks to resolve the over-one-month-long deadlock over three agri laws, even as a committee has been formed by the Supreme Court to resolve the deadlock.
Addressing a press conference, Tomar said the latest round of talks between the farmers and the government did not yield any positive outcome. The union minister confirmed that the next round of talks will be held on January 19. "Discussions took place over three farm laws in a cordial atmosphere, but couldn't reach a decisive stage; the next round of talks will be held on January 19," the agriculture minister said.
Tomar said the government told the farmer union leaders that it was ready to talk to them through the SC-appointed panel. He also said that the Centre suggested to farmer unions to form an informal group to finalise concrete proposals that can be discussed further during the formal talks between them.
