Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait (C) along with farmers leaders during a meeting with Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar (unseen) and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal (unseen) over the new farm laws, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (PTI Photo)Farmers’ Protest Live Updates: The sixth round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmer unions is underway with the latter sticking to their position that the discussion can only be on a four-point agenda including modalities of repealing the laws and providing a legal guarantee on minimum support price. The farmers have been camping at different borders of Delhi since November 26 against the three farm laws.
This is the sixth round of talks after a three-week hiatus. Union minister Som Prakash — who has been part of the government’s three-member team for negotiations with the farmers — said, “Today’s meeting with farmers will be decisive”. “We want them to celebrate New Year at their homes, with their family and we are going into the meeting with an open heart and mind. The government will try to resolve the issue so that people can go back to their homes,” Som Prakash was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Centre has reaffirmed that it has no intention of scrapping the minimum support price (MSP) regime, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stressing that no “ma ka lal (no one)” can take away land from the farmers.
But in its letter on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation which represents the farmer unions, said the modalities for repealing the three contentious laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) must be part of the agenda. The Morcha further said the agenda should also include amendments to be made and notified in the Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 to exclude farmers from its penal provisions.
Farmers at the Singhu border
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the dedicated freight corridor via video conference. (PTI)
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar along with Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal (L) during a meeting with farmers leaders over the new farm laws, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (PTI Photo)
The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress on Wednesday urged farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws to talk directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying otherwise the dialogue will not yield any result.
Commenting on farmer leaders' meeting with the Centre over the laws on Wednesday, former Union minister and Akali Dal's Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said they shouldn't fall into the "trap" of extended meetings, "which yield nothing".
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar too favoured direct talks with the PM, saying the involvement of the prime minister or Union home minister is a must for a successful dialogue.
"Our farmers are on the cusp of victory. I appeal to them to hold direct talks with the PM to get these agri laws repealed," Badal said in a tweet.
"They shouldn't fall into trap of extended meetings which yield nothing," the Bathinda MP added. (PTI)
A 'Kar Sewa' tempo arrives at Vigyan Bhawan carrying food for farmers' delegation.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday claimed that the ruling BJP's ground level workers also want withdrawal of three new farm laws as they feel they will not be able to face the people.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, are protesting at various borders of the national capital for more than a month against the three new laws.
In a tweet in Hindi, the SP chief said, "The BJP government should not 'cheat' farmers of the entire country for the benefit of a few rich friends and in today's talks, withdraw the agriculture laws. The truth is that the ground level worker of the BJP also wants the same because he is not able garner the courage to go among the general people. Political leadership of India has never been so barren."
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Narendra Singh Tomar having food with farmer leaders during the lunch break at Vigyan Bhawan where the government is holding talks with farmers on three farm laws.
The sixth round of government farmers talks underway at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan.
The government has invited farm unions for the talks saying that it's committed to resolve the “relevant issues rationally” with a “clean intention and an open mind.” However, farm unions have set a 4-point agenda for talks. It includes modalities to be adopted for the repeal of the three Central Farm Acts-- 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.
Besides, they have also included three other demands in their agenda which are: mechanisms to be adopted to make remunerative MSP recommended by the National Farmers' Commission into a legally guaranteed entitlement for all farmers and all agricultural commodities; amendments to be made and notified in the "Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020" to exclude farmers from the penal provisions of the Ordinance; and withdrawal of the draft Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 to protect the interests of farmers.
The 4-point agenda was first communicated by the farm unions in a joint letter to Vivek Aggarwal, joint secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on December 26. It was reiterated by the union leaders in a letter to the Agriculture Secretary on December 30, a day ahead of the fresh round of talks.
(Explained by Harikishan Sharma)
Meeting between Union Government and farmer leaders over three farm laws underway at Vigyan Bhawan.
This is the sixth round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers with the latter sticking to their position that the discussion can only be on a four-point agenda including modalities of repealing the laws and providing a legal guarantee on minimum support price.
Among those arriving at the Ghazipur border to join the protest against the farm laws is a sizable group of small farmers, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and some from Uttarakhand. Speaking to The Indian Express, many said they are being paid less than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops, or, in the case of sugarcane farmers, haven’t been paid at all for a years.
Farmers from all backgrounds insisted that small farmers, who own two acres or less, will be hit hardest by the laws.
Read our ground report here
Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to a Haryana farmer Hari Singh Bishnoi and praised his efforts for crop diversification, a section of farmers from Bishnoi’s native village, Nadhori in Fatehabad district, said that a donation drive is underway in the village to support farmers protesting at the Delhi borders. Farmer leaders also claimed that some village panchayat members have also passed a resolution against PM Modi and three farm laws, however, authorities are trying to find out its authenticity.
A former village sarpanch, Ravinder Dharnia, told The Indian Express the farmers in tractor-trolleys left for Delhi borders on Tuesday, adding a campaign for collection of funds for them is also underway in the village. Another former sarpanch, Krishan Bishnoi, said, “Apart from a collection of Rs 3 lakh, the villagers are also donating ghee and wheat for the agitator farmers.” A farmer leader Mandeep Nathwan said three tractor-trolleys left for Delhi Tuesday.
Union minister Som Prakash -- who has been part of the government's three-member team for negotiations with the farmers -- said, "Today's meeting with farmers will be decisive".
"We want them to celebrate New Year at their homes, with their family and we are going into the meeting with an open heart and mind. The government will try to resolve the issue so that people can go back to their homes," Som Prakash was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
"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," the minister added.
AAP will install free WiFi hotspots at the Singhu border for the convenience of protesting farmers, party leader and MLA Raghav Chadha said Tuesday. He said it was the initiative of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“Any person needs three things to live a life of dignity: roti (food), kapda (clothes), makaan (home). But in today’s time, a fourth thing has been added, which is internet. Our farmer brothers and sisters came to Delhi borders, and have been fighting for their rights for the past one month,” he said at a press conference.
“Sewadar Arvind Kejriwal gave sewa of blankets, langar, toilets and water, and now he will start another sewa of free WiFi at Singhu border,” said Chadha.
Over half-a-dozen farmers suffered minor injuries when police lathicharged them near Dak Bungalow crossing in Patna on Tuesday. Over 2,000 farmers, under the aegis of All India Farmers Struggle Coordination committee, were marching towards Raj Bhavan to submit their memorandum of demands when they were lathicharged. The farmers, however, were not allowed to reach Raj Bhavan. Left parties are also backing the farmers.
All India Kisan Mahasabha’s state secretary Ramadhar Singh said farmers had come to Patna from Purnea, Araria, Gopalganj, East Champaran and Siwan on their own and their protest would only intensify in the coming days. A major segment of these farmers are share-croppers, he added.
Singh said Bihar farmers are in complete solidarity with farmers protesting along the Delhi-Haryana borders. “We want roll back of all the three farm laws. Bihar government did away with the mandi system in 2006 but did not provide any alternative system. Most farmers have to sell their paddy much below MSP,” Singh alleged.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has written to Punjab CM and Punjab DGP seeking their intervention into "incidents of sabotage and vandalism at Jio Network sites" in Punjab by unknown persons, news agency ANI reported. We explain the issue, here
Amid growing concern over incidents of around 2,000 cellphone towers of Reliance Jio Infocomm being vandalised, allegedly by protesting farmer groups, the state police have fanned out across the affected districts to restore power supply to these towers.
While the CM said “only 4-5 cases of vandalisation have come to light in the past 24 hours”, sources said the government has taken serious note of the incidents. “There is a lot of disquiet in the government over this disruption, particularly in light of the continued stalemate between the Centre and the protesting farmers. No one in the state wants the situation to get out of hand,” said a senior official.
Though company sources said that apart from around 2,000 towers, several base transceiver stations and fibre optic cables in the state have also been vandalised, senior police officers maintained that in most cases there was little damage to the towers, with the vandals, allegedly local youth supported by gram panchayat members, only targeting power supply lines to the towers.
Citing the newly enacted farm laws, Khoja Traders, a trader firm in Dewas owned by brothers Pavan Khoja and Suresh Khoja, duped 22 farmers in Harda district of their 2,581 quintals of lentil and gram produce worth nearly Rs 2 crore.
The 22 farmers first tried to locate the trader by knocking at Dewas mandi since the Khoja brothers had shown them the trading licence registered by the mandi. But they realised that the duo had cancelled the registration within three months of it being issued by the mandi last year. They went to the residence of the Khojas in Khategaon tehsil but could not find them. Finally, the farmers filed an FIR with the Khategaon police and also submitted a written complaint to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Khategaon.
The incident assumes significance since it touches upon two critical aspects of The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 — registration of traders in private markets and dispute resolution.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also said that the farm laws have been made in the interest of farmers and the protesting farmers should see their implementation for two years and engage in a “logical debate” with the government. Asserting that the government will find a solution to the issues, Singh said, “Some forces have tried to create some misperceptions amongst farmers. We have also talked to several farmers. My only request to farmers is that clause-wise discussion based on logic should be done and not seek ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. We will find a resolution to the problem. I have myself seen the laws and I am aware of the problems of the farmers. The farmers should at least see the implementation of these laws for two years as an experiment. We will be ready to make necessary amendments if there is a need. If the farmers want experts to talk with the government for amendment in certain clauses, we are entirely flexible.”
“There is no question of being insensitive as far as the subject of farmers is concerned. Our farmers are holding demonstrations and I am not the only one pained. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pained as well,” he added.
During an interview with news agency ANI, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called farmers “annadatas” and “backbone of the economy." Singh strongly disapproved of remarks such as “Naxals” or “Khalistanis” and said “allegations should not be made by anyone” against them. “These allegations should not be made by anyone against farmers.
“We express our deepest respect towards our farmers. Our heads bow in deference and respect towards our farmers. They are our ‘annadatas‘. In the time of economic recession, the farmers have borne the responsibility of taking the economy out of trouble. They are the economy’s backbone. They have taken the country out of troubled waters on several occasions,” Singh told ANI.
Welcome to The Indian Express live blog
The sixth-round of talks between the Centre and farmers is scheduled to take place today. Thousands of protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri -- demanding a repeal of the three farm laws and legal guarantee for MSP.