Farmers Protest: Without much hope, farmer leaders agree to attend ninth round of talks with Centre today

New Delhi, Jan 15: The ninth round of talks between Centre and farmer unions will be held in the national capital today. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the government is ready to hold talks with farmers' leaders with an open mind and expressed hope for positive discussions.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of three farm laws till further orders. It had also announced the formation of a committee to hear the grievances of the farmers and the opinion of the government.

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Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann, Shetkari Sanghatana Maharashtra president Anil Ghanwat, International Food Policy Research Institute's Pramod Kumar Joshi and agriculture economist Ashok Gulati were appointed on the panel. However, Mann, on Thursday recused himself from the four-member committee.

It can be seen that the Supreme Court-appointed panel on farm laws is likely to hold its first meeting on January 19.

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The protesting farmer leaders, meanwhile, said they will attend the ninth round of talks with the government amid indication that it may be last such meeting with the Centre, but added that they don't have much hope as they will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the contentious farm laws.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) Joginder Singh Ugrahan said, "We are going to hold talks with the government on Friday. We don't have much hope from the Friday meeting as the government will cite the SC-appointed panel. The government doesn't have good intention to resolve our issues."