Centre will reach solution after discussing farmers' issues: Union Agri Minister Narendra Tomar

Tomar further said the government will arrive at a solution after hearing the representatives of the farmer organisations

After six days of protests at the doorstep of Delhi against farm sector reforms, leaders of 35 farmers’ organisations from across the country sat down with Agriculture Minister Naredra Singh Tomar seeking to address their concerns on the new laws.

The midnight offer for talks made by the Agriculture Minister to 32 farmers’ organisations from Punjab were initially rejected on Tuesday morning as the protestors also sought representation for their comrades from Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana at the dialogue table.

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“The protests are not limited to Punjab. We agreed for talks after the government agreed to our demand to include leaders from other states for the talks,” Jagjit Singh Dalewal, President of the Punjab unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union told DH.

“We are ready for discussion to resolve their issues. Let us see,” Tomar said as he arrived for the talks at Vigyan Bhawan, along with Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Prakash.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting on the borders of the national capital at Tikri in the west, Singhu in the north and Ghazipur in the east, since November 26 demanding repeal of the three farm sector laws enacted in September and shelve the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act.

The farmers’ organisations also dissociated themselves from All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) leader V M Singh protesting against his suggestions to accept the government proposal and shift the protests to Burari grounds.

There were also reports about disenchantment with Yogendra Yadav, another AIKSCC leader. However, Yadav’s Swaraj India organisation claimed that the psephologist-turned-politician stayed away from the farmers’ leaders as the government was not keen to have him onboard.

The farmers are protesting against 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.

Earlier, BJP President J P Nadda asked to meet senior ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Tomar for discussions on resolving the farmers issue.

A section of the farmers was upset at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated assertions backing the farm sector reforms and contended that it gave an impression that the government was not ready to accept the concerns raised by the farmers.