Farmers' Protest LIVE Updates: In a letter on Sunday, the Union Agriculture Ministry had asked farmers' unions to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks
Representational image. AP
Farmers' Protest LATEST Updates: At a presser on Delhi's Singh border, farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhi said a decision on Centre's letter for talks will be taken on Wednesday.
In a letter to 40 farmers leaders on Sunday, the Union Agriculture Ministry joint secretary Vivek Aggarwal 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.
A group of protesting farmers showed black flags to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar when his convoy was passing through Ambala City, said reports.
Some of the farmers allegedly tried to block Khattar's motorcade but police managed to provide a safe passage to the chief minister, reported news agency PTI quoting sources.
"AITUC Unions to observe 23 December as 'Skip Lunch' day to express solidarity with the relay hunger strike by the joint front of Kisan organisations," said Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, AITUC in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The Central government is trying to sidestep the genuine demands of the farmers, which are not only in the interest of farmers but are in the interest of the public at large and also in national interest, the statement said.
Traffic from Delhi towards Ghazipur and Ghaziabad on Delhi-Meerut Expressway are affected as both side carriageways closed for traffic.
Commission agents known as Arhtiyas in Punjab will keep their shops shut for four days from Tuesday in protest against income tax raids allegedly conducted to intimidate them for supporting the farmers' stir.
The farmer leaders are expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss the next plan of action, said Gurmeet Singh of Krantikari Kisan Union, amid efforts by the unions 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 on Monday 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, were led by leaders of the Kisan Sabha. Before proceeding to Delhi in afternoon, the farmers burnt effigies of Central leaders.
A Kisan Sabha leader said farmers from 21 districts in Maharashtra are on their way to Delhi.
He said agriculturists from Maharashtra have been demanding waiving of 'inflated' power bills and implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Commiittee.
Their other demands include an aid of Rs 50,000 per acre to those farmers whose crops were damaged due to unseasonal
rains.
Addressing the gathering of farmers, Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha leaders Ashok Dhawale and Ajit Navale criticised
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over the agri laws.
They alleged that the new farm laws were enacted with the sole purpose of benefiting select corporates at the cost of farmers.
The farmers are expected to reach New Delhi, a distance of over 1,200 kms, on 24 December through Mumbai-Agra national highway, a leader said.
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.
Multiple rounds of talks held between the government and the protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have failed to break the impasse.
