Will the deadlock end? Farmers' representatives have food during lunch break at Vigyan Bhawan
New Delhi, Jan 04: The seventh round of meeting between Central Government & farmers' representatives began at Vigyan Bhawan. Both the sides had met on December 30, when they found some common ground on two of four key demands of farmers.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding the talks with the representatives of 40 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan.
Delhi: Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash along with government officials and representatives of farmers observe a two-minute silence for farmers who died during the ongoing protest. https://t.co/5AtK2LTB9n pic.twitter.com/Yyiq28baJZ
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2021
The meeting began with paying respects to the farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing protest, sources said.
Farmers' protest: Several roads remain closed in national capital
On December 30, the sixth round of talks was held between the government and the farmer unions, where some common ground was reached on two demands -- decriminalisation of stubble-burning and continuation of power subsidies.
However, no breakthrough has been reached so far on the two main demands of the protesting farmers -- a repeal of the three recent farm laws and a legal guarantee to the MSP procurement system.
On Sunday, Tomar met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed the government strategy to resolve the current crisis at the earliest, sources said.
Tomar discussed with Singh "all possible options" to find a "middle path" to resolve the crisis, they added.
Earlier today, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said that at least 60 farmers have lost their lives during the protests against the three new agriculture laws. "One farmer is dying every 16 hours. It is the responsibility of the government to answer," he added.
Repeal new farm laws with ordinance: Farmers to govt ahead of meet
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some other states are camping at several entry points of the national capital blocking the highways, demanding that the Centre repeal the farm laws and give legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Protesting farmers who have been camping at Delhi borders for the last 39 days braving bone-chilling cold and now rains have threatened to intensify their protest if their two major demands -- repeal of the three new farm laws and legal backing for the minimum support price (MSP) -- are not accepted by the government in the January 4 meeting.
Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms and aimed at increasing farmers'' income, but protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the MSP and mandi systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.