The Centre and the representatives of agitating farmers’ unions on Friday began the eighth round of talks to resolve farmers’ concerns regarding the new farm laws. The meeting is currently underway as Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal reached Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi.
Before the meeting, both farmers’ union leaders and Union agriculture minister Tomar on Friday expressed hope that a solution to the issues will be found. “I am hopeful that talks will be held in a positive atmosphere and a solution will be found. During discussions, each side has to take steps to reach a solution,” Tomar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Rakesh Tikait of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said that farmers’ leaders are hoping that both parties will reach a resolution. “We going for talks with the hope that there will be a resolution today,” Tikait said.
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other northern states have been protesting at Delhi’s borders for the last 45 days demanding the rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance, and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The farmers say that despite government assurances they fear that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system will be affected. They have also demanded a total rollback of the laws as they fear corporate farming will affect their earnings.